Beverage brewing system

ABSTRACT

A beverage cartridge system is adapted to brew a beverage through a brewer having a holder adapted to receive the cartridge system. The holder may have a deep well with one or more needles therewithin to pierce through the bottom of the cartridge system when inserted into the well. The cartridge system may include a short cup and a tall cup, where the tall cup is taller than the short cup to pack more beverage grind. The cartridge system may include a filter within an outer cup. The bottom of the filter may be deep enough to be juxtaposed to the bottom of the cup. The filter may be formed from a material that is substantially resistant to piercing by the needle within the holder such that when the outlet needle pierces through the bottom of the cup, the outlet needle raises the filter at a point of contact, and the filter substantially resists the outlet needle from piercing through the filter during a brewing process.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/542,352, filed Nov. 14, 2014, which is a continuation ofInternational Application Serial No. PCT/US2013/047408, filed Jun. 24,2013, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional application Serial Nos.:(1) 61/690,275, filed Jun. 22, 2012; (2) 61/849,236, filed Jan. 22,2013; (3) 61/850,862, filed Feb. 25, 2013; and (4) 61/852,470, filedMar. 15, 2013, each of which are incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention is directed a beverage brewing system, and in particular,to a brewing system for making hot beverages such as coffee, tea, coco,milk, and soup.

2. Background of the Invention

There are many ways to brew coffee including drip and French pressmethods. Recently, brewing coffee through a single-serve cartridge hasbecome popular for its convenience and a variety of coffee flavors whichare offered. Single-serve cartridges are packed with premeasured coffeegrind which can be inserted into a brewer to inject hot water into thecartridge to brew the coffee. Like any other beverages, one of theimportant criteria for a success of the beverage is its taste, andcoffee is no different. In this regard, the Coffee Brewing Center (CBC)during the 1960's, led by Dr. Earl Lockhart, has done a lot of researchin understanding the physics and science behind what constitutes a goodtasting coffee. The CBC has come up with what is called the “CoffeeBrewing Control Chart” like the one shown in FIG. 1, which provides agraphical representation of strength, extraction and brew formula in aneasy to read format.

According to the chart shown in FIG. 1, an ideal tasting coffee isobtained when there is a good combination of strength and extraction.Strength is also referred to as total dissolved solids (“TDS”), and theideal TDS level is 1.15%-1.35%. For example, TDS level of 1.00% meansthere is 1.00% of coffee concentration and the remaining 99.00% is waterin the cup. According to the chart, coffee having a TDS level below1.15% may taste weak; while coffee having a TDS level above 1.35% maytaste too strong. As a reference, coffee from a traditional coffeehouse, such as Starbucks®, may have a TDS level from about 1.20% toabout 1.35%. In practice, many consumers may find that a cup of coffeewith a TDS level from about 0.80% to 1.00% to be mild and acceptabletaste; while a TDS level from about 1.00% to about 1.15% to be regularstrength taste; and a TDS level from about 1.15% to about 1.35% to be astrong coffee taste. The TDS level may be measured using a number ofdifferent instruments such as hydrometers, conductivity, Brix andmoisture microwave. In particular, a conductivity meter measures theamount of coffee flavoring material based on its conductivity across acoffee infusion.

The chart in FIG. 1 also indicates that the ideal extraction level forcoffee is 18%-22%. Extraction means amount of coffee that has dissolvedfrom the coffee grind into the coffee drink. For example, if 10 grams ofcoffee grind is brewed, and after the brewing there is 8.0 grams ofcoffee grind left, then the extraction level is 20% because 2 grams or20% of the coffee grind dissolved into coffee. Extractions below 16% mayindicate a coffee taste that is under-developed such that it may have aweak peanut-like flavor, while extractions over 22% may indicate acoffee taste that is over-extracted so it may taste bitter.

Many hot beverages, such as coffee and tea, are now provided in singleserve packs which can be inserted into a brewer to inject hot water intothe pack to brew hot beverages. For instance, US. Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2005/0051478 entitled BEVERAGE FILTER POD by Karanikoset al. (the “'0051478 application”), which is hereby incorporated byreference, describes a beverage filter cartridge having a cup likecontainer where the interior is divided into two chambers by acup-shaped filter element: a first chamber inside the filter and asecond chamber located between the filter bottom and the containerbottom. The upper rim of the filter is joined at the upper rim of thecontainer side wall, and the filter side wall has exterior channels thatface the container side wall and lead downwardly from the peripheraljuncture to the second chamber. The filter sidewall is folded to provideexterior channels. And according to the '0051478 application, during thebrewing cycle, the channels provide a passageway for beverage topermeate from the first chamber to the second chamber, and in so doing,improve the full saturation of the beverage grind in areas adjacent tothe container side wall.

A beverage grind, such as grinded coffee, is poured into the firstchamber, and a cover, such as an aluminum foil, is used to seal thecontainer. An input needle can pierce through the cover to inject hotwater into the first chamber to mix with the beverage grind to produce abeverage. The filter element is permeable to allow liquid beverage topass therethrough while retaining the granular beverage grind within thefilter. The beverage passes through the filter via the exterior filterchannels, and into the second chamber. An output needle can pierce thebottom of the container to allow the beverage to flow out from thesecond chamber. While the cartridge described in the '0051478application is able to brew a sufficient cup of coffee, the cup size ofthe coffee is limited because there is a limit as to how much coffeegrind the filter can hold.

To brew a bigger cup of coffee, US. Patent Application Publication No.2010/0303964 entitled CARTRIDGE WITH FILTER GUARD by Beaulieu et al.(the “'0303964 application”), which is hereby incorporated by reference,discloses a more elongated filter compared to the filter disclosed inthe '0051478 application such that the space in the second chamber isminimized. With a bigger filter, more coffee grind may be inserted intothe cartridge to brew a bigger and/or stronger cup of coffee. In orderto protect the filter from the output needle piercing through the bottomof the filter, a filter guard is provided between the filter and thebottom of the cartridge so that the filter guard makes contact with theoutput needle to protect the filter. While providing a larger filter tohold more coffee grind somewhat enabled brewing a stronger tastingcoffee or a larger cup of coffee, coffee made from the cartridgegenerally described in the '0303964 application resulted in TDS levelsof about 0.95%, which may be considered weak according the chart shownin FIG. 1. Accordingly, there still is a need to brew stronger tastingcoffee using a single-serve cartridge.

As of 2013, the market leader of single-serve cartridge platform inNorth America is Green Mountain Coffee Roasters®, which sells itssingle-serve platform under the Keurig® brand name, collectivelyreferred to as Keurig®. Keurig® offers over 200 varieties ofsingle-serve cups, also known as K-Cup®, which works with several ofKeurig's® brewers offered in the market today. There is estimated to beover 12 million U.S. households with Keurig® brewers in use largely dueto its convenience where a single cup of coffee can be made without muchof a cleanup. A good example of types of brewers offered by Keurig® isgenerally described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,347,138, which is incorporated byreference.

FIG. 1B is a copy of FIG. 3 of the U.S. Pat. No. 7,347,138. The brewer10 includes a brew chamber 18 comprised of a cartridge receptacle 20 anda lid 22. The receptacle 20 has a removable holder 23 configured anddimensioned to receive a beverage filter cartridge 24. The holder 23 hasa needle at the bottom to pierce through the bottom of the cartridgewhen the cartridge is pressed down into the holder. The cartridge 24includes an outer container internally subdivided by a paper filter intotwo compartments: top and bottom compartments. The top compartment isdefined by the shape of paper filter to hold coffee grind within thepaper filter. The bottom compartment is a remaining empty space withenough space so that the bottom needle does not pierce the paper filterin order to prevent the coffee grind from washing out during the brewingprocess.

The holder 23 is removable so that it may be easily cleaned. One of thecommon elements of the brewers offered by Keurig® is that they allutilize essentially the same holder 23. The holder 23 is configured suchthat when the cartridge 24 is inserted into the holder 23, the cartridge24 substantially fills the void within the holder 23 such that there islittle gap between the holder 23 and the cartridge 24. This means thatthe outer shape of the cartridge 24 is constraint by the holder 23 suchthat cartridge 24 may not be enlarged, which means that there is a limitas to how much coffee grind that can be packed within the paper filterin the cartridge 24. As discussed above, without being able to enlargethe cartridge, only other option is to enlarge the paper filter as muchas possible to hold more coffee grind to make a stronger cup of coffee,but doing so lowers the paper filter closer to the bottom needle, whichincreases the risk of the bottom needle piercing the paper filter. Asdiscussed above, the cartridge disclosed in the '0303964 applicationutilizes a filter guard to protect the paper filter from the bottomneedle. While the cartridge disclosed in the '0303964 application canhold more coffee grinds, there is still a limitation due to the fixedouter size of the cartridge 24. As such, there is a need to brew astronger and bigger cup of coffee when utilizing the Keurig's® brewers.

There are many factors that can determine the taste of coffee; however,the temperature and flow rate of the water passing through the coffeegrind can have significant impact on the coffee taste. In general, watertemperature between 190-205° F. may be considered a desirabletemperature range to brew a good balance tasting coffee. For instance,if the water temperature is below the desired temperature, the coffeemay be under-extracted such that the coffee may taste sour. Conversely,if the water temperature is above the desired temperature, the coffeemay be over-extracted such that the coffee may taste bitter. With regardto the flow rate, if the hot water passes through the coffee grind tooquickly, then the coffee may be under-extracted; however, if the flowrate is too slow, then the coffee may be over-extracted. As such, thereis a need for a brewer that can more precisely control the temperatureand flow rate of the water.

Another concern is when the single-serve beverage cartridges are offeredin commercial settings such as in offices and food service industry. Incommercial settings, such as in the office services, the beverages maybe serviced by a professional catering service that periodically restockthe inventory of beverage cartridges at the offices. This, however, canbe a time consuming process, since the professional catering service mayneed to contact the office manager prior to visiting to get an inventoryof beverage cartridges it needs to restock the cartridges. This meansthat someone from the office may need to manually count the inventory ofcartridges it has or does not have, and pass the information to thecatering service. Alternatively, the catering service may need to carrythe inventory with the truck and driver, and have the driver manuallycount the inventory, and restock the office. All of these manualoperations may be an inefficient way of restocking the beveragecartridges. As such, an improved inventory management system is needed.

The single-serve beverage platform is largely a razor and razor bladebusiness model, where the catering business may offer the brewer forfree or at a low price with the understanding that the office customerwill purchase the cartridges from the catering service. In certainsituations, however, the office may purchase unauthorized cartridgesfrom less expensive retailer to save costs. Unfortunately, suchunauthorized purchase of the cartridges can have negative financialimpact on the catering business. As such, there is a need to improve theinventory management of the cartridges.

INVENTION SUMMARY

This invention is directed to a cartridge system adapted to brew abeverage through a brewer having a brewing chamber adapted to receivethe cartridge system. The brewing chamber may have a deep well with oneor more needles therewithin to pierce through the bottom of thecartridge system when inserted into the well. The cartridge system mayinclude a cup having a base and a lip, a side wall between the lip andthe base defining an interior space therewithin. A filter may have adeep bowl configuration with a bottom and a side wall that tapers up toform a rim. The rim of the filter is adapted to couple adjacent to thelip of the cup, and the bottom of the filter may be deep enough to bejuxtaposed to the base of the cup. The filter may be formed from amaterial that is substantially resistant to piercing by the needlewithin the brewing chamber such that the bottom needle raises the filterat a point of contact, and the filter substantially resists the bottomneedle from piercing through the filter during a brewing process.

With the bottom of the filter juxtaposed to the base of the cup, thefilter may substantially fill the interior space of the cup to optimizethe amount of beverage grind that the cartridge system may hold. Theadditional space within the filter relative to traditional cups, such asK-cup®, the heated water injected into the cartridge may have more spaceto circulate to evenly wash or extract the flavors from the beveragegrind to provide a smoother tasting beverage.

The cartridge system may include a holder adapted to receive a firstbeverage cartridge and a second beverage cartridge. The second beveragecartridge may be longer along its longitudinal axis relative to thefirst beverage cartridge. The holder may have a side wall between a lipand a basin defining a well. The holder may also have a first needle anda second needle within the well, where the first needle is positionbetween the lip and the second needle. The first needle may be adaptedto pierce through the first beverage cartridge, and the second needlemay be adapted to pierce through the second beverage cartridge.

A portion of the side wall of the second beverage cartridge may have acavity along its longitudinal axis adapted to receive the first needlesuch that the first needle does not pierce through the cup. The secondneedle, however, may pierce through the bottom of the second beveragecartridge. The interior space of the second beverage cartridge may beabout 20% to about 40% larger than the first beverage cartridge whereits outer dimensions may be substantially similar to K-cup®. The extraspace within the second beverage cartridge allows for brewing a biggerand/or stronger cup of beverage.

The cartridge system may also have a filter that divides the interiorspace of the cup between a first chamber and a second chamber. The firstchamber may be substantially defined by the interior space of thefilter, and the second chamber may be generally defined by the spacebetween the bottom of the filter and the base of the cup. The firstchamber may be packed with a first beverage grind such as coffee grind.The second chamber may be packed with a second beverage grind such aspowder cream that substantially dissolve instantly as the heatedbeverage permeate out of the filter and into the second chamber so thatthe combination of the beverage and the dissolved powder cream does notclog the needle.

Another aspect of the invention is directed a brewer system adapted tobrew a beverage utilizing a cartridge packed with beverage grind. Thebrewer system may include a pump adapted to draw the fluid from either areservoir or a heating tank. A brewing chamber may be adapted to receivethe cartridge and inject the fluid from the pump into the cartridge tobrew a beverage. A tube may be may be coupled to the pump to draw thefluid from the reservoir or the heating tank. An air switch may becoupled to a portion of the tube such that atmospheric air may enter theportion of the tube through the switch so that after a predeterminedamount of fluid has been pumped through the tube, the pump draws airthrough the portion of the tube to purge the cartridge of beverage. Thereservoir or the heater tank may be adapted to hold the fluid up to amaximum fill line, and the portion of the tube that is coupled to theair switch may be routed in such a way so that the portion of the tubeis located above the maximum fill to substantially prevent the waterfrom the reservoir or the heater tank to exit through the switch.

The brewing system may include a heating member adapted to heat thefluid flowing along a pathway from a first end to a second end of theheating member. The first end of the pathway may be fluidly coupled tothe pump, and the second end of the pathway may be fluidly coupled tothe brewing chamber. The heating member may be a tube heater that heatsthe fluid passing through therein.

The brewer system may also include a heater tank having an opening toallow air to pass therethrough so that the heated fluid may be drawnthrough the second end of the tube within the heater tank using a vacuumpump. A temperature sensor may measure the temperature of the fluidwithin the heater tank. A processor may adjust the temperature of thefluid within the heater tank and adjust the speed of the pump to adjustthe flow rate of the fluid through the tube such that the temperature ofthe fluid is substantially controlled independent of the flow rate ofthe fluid provided to the brewing chamber. Independently controlling thetemperature and the flow rate may brew a beverage with taste that may bebest suited for the beverage drinker.

The brewer system may also include a processor communicably coupled to areader adapted to read an indication mark on the cartridge. This mayallow the processor to authenticate the indication mark on thecartridge, and if the processor determines that the indication mark isnot authentic, then the processor may not operate the brewing system.With the authentication system, the brewer system may only work withauthorized cartridges.

The invention may also include a method of brewing a beverage from acartridge. The method may include, not in any particular order: (1)drawing a predetermined amount of fluid through an inlet end of a tubesuch as through the use of a vacuum pump; (2) passing the fluid from anoutlet end of the tube to a brewing chamber adapted to receive thecartridge and inject the fluid into the cartridge; and (3) drawing airinto the tube between the inlet and outlet ends after the predeterminedamount of fluid has passed through the outlet end of the tube. The fluidfrom the outlet end of the tube may be passed through a tube heater toheat the fluid, and the heated fluid then may be passed to the brewingchamber. The temperature of the fluid exiting the tube heater may becontrolled or adjusted by adjusting the flow rate of the fluid passingthrough the tube heater.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be better understood with reference to the followingdrawings and description. The components in the figures are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustratingthe principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, likereferenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout thedifferent views.

FIG. 1A shows a prior art graph illustrating strength and extractionrelationship of coffee.

FIG. 1B shows an illustration of a prior art Keurig® brewer designed tobrew a cup of coffee with a K-cup® or the like.

FIG. 2 shows an expanded view of a brewing system.

FIG. 3A shows a perspective view of a cup holder.

FIG. 3B shows another perspective view of the cup holder of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4A shows a perspective view of a cup.

FIG. 4B shows another perspective view of the cup of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5A shows a perspective view of a filter.

FIG. 5B shows another perspective view of the filter of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of the brewing system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 shows another cross-sectional view of the brewing system of FIG.2.

FIG. 8A shows a graph generally illustrating distribution of coffeegrind sizes packed in a typical K-cup®.

FIG. 8B show a graph generally illustrating distribution of coffee grindsizes according to this invention.

FIG. 9 shows an expanded view of a taller cartridge system.

FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of a cup of the cartridge system ofFIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional view of the taller cartridge system ofFIG. 9.

FIG. 12A shows a cross-sectional view of yet another cartridge systemwith a second beverage grind between a filter and a bottom of the cup.

FIG. 12B shows a cross-sectional view of a taller cartridge system witha second beverage grind between a filter and a bottom of the cup.

FIG. 13A is a perspective view of yet another cartridge system.

FIG. 13B is a cross-sectional view of the cartridge system of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 13C is another cross-sectional view of the cartridge system of FIG.13A.

FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of another cup.

FIG. 15A shows a perspective view of still another cartridge system.

FIG. 15B shows a side view of the cartridge system of FIG. 15A.

FIG. 15C shows a cross-sectional view of the cartridge system insertedinto a holder.

FIG. 16 shows a cross-sectional view of another cartridge systeminserted into a holder.

FIG. 17 is a perspective cross-sectional view of still another cartridgesystem.

FIG. 18A is a cross-sectional view of still another cartridge systeminserted into a holder.

FIG. 18B is a perspective view of an outer tall cup.

FIG. 19A is a perspective view of an interchangeable holder.

FIG. 19B is another perspective view of the interchangeable holder ofFIG. 19A.

FIG. 19C is another perspective view of the interchangeable holder ofFIG. 19A.

FIG. 19D is another perspective view of the interchangeable holder ofFIG. 19A with the bottom funnel removed.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of another brewing system.

FIG. 21A is an expanded perspective view of still another cartridgesystem.

FIG. 21B is an assembled perspective view of the cartridge system ofFIG. 21A.

FIG. 22A is an expanded perspective view of still another cartridgesystem.

FIG. 22B is a cross-sectional view of the cartridge system of FIG. 22Ainserted to a holder.

FIG. 23 is an assembled perspective view of another cartridge system.

FIG. 24 is an assembled perspective view of yet another cartridgesystem.

FIG. 25A is a perspective view of another filter.

FIG. 25B is a cross-sectional view of the filter of FIG. 25A.

FIG. 26A is a cross-sectional view of still another cartridge system.

FIG. 26B is a cross-sectional view of yet another cartridge system withan alternative filter design.

FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view of still another cartridge system.

FIG. 28A is a perspective cross-sectional view of another cartridgesystem.

FIG. 28B is a cross-sectional view of the cartridge system of FIG. 28A.

FIG. 29 is a cross-sectional view of another tall cartridge system.

FIG. 30 shows a schematic diagram of a beverage brewing system.

FIG. 31 shows the beverage brewing system of FIG. 1 in a differentstate.

FIG. 32 shows a user interface for the beverage brewing system.

FIG. 33 shows another user interface.

FIG. 34 shows a wireless user interface system.

FIG. 35 shows another beverage brewer system.

FIG. 36 shows a perspective outer view of a beverage brewer system.

FIG. 37 shows the beverage brewer system of FIG. 7 with its cover in anopen position.

FIG. 38 shows a side view of the beverage brewer system of FIG. 1 withcertain housing portions removed to show the placement of certaininternal components.

FIG. 39 shows the beverage brewer system of FIG. 1 with its cover in aclosed position.

FIG. 40 shows yet another beverage brewer system.

FIG. 41 shows still another beverage brewer system.

FIG. 42 shows an alternative beverage brewer system.

FIG. 43 shows a dual beverage brewer system.

FIG. 44 shows an authentication system.

FIG. 45 shows still another beverage brewer system.

FIG. 46 shows the beverage brewer system of FIG. 45 with a differentcoffee pod.

FIG. 47 is a perspective view of a coffee pod.

FIG. 48 is a bottom view of the coffee pod illustrated in FIG. 47.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 2 shows an expanded view of a cartridge system 100 adapted to brewa beverage. The cartridge system may include a cup 102 adapted to housea filter 104. The filter 104 may be adapted to hold beverage grind, suchas grind coffee or tea, therewithin. A ring 106 may be coupled to a rim108 of the filter 104, and as the filter is fitted inside the cup 102,the ring 106 may releasably engage with an inner ledge 110 formed withinthe cup 102. With beverage grind placed inside the filter 104, a cover112 may enclose the cup 102 by sealing around the outer circumference114 of the cover 112 to a rim 115 of the cup 102.

FIG. 2 also shows a holder 116 having a well 117 adapted to receive thecartridge system 100. The well 117 may be defined by a lip 118 withcavities 120 adapted to receive a pair of ears 122 from the cup 102. Thelip 118 may also have a pointer mark 124 to define a first orientation123 of the holder 116, and a second orientation 125, which may be on theopposite end of the lip 118. The cup 102 may have a ledge 126 with anopening 128 with its shape being substantially similar to the pointermark 124 on the lip 118. As such, the cup 102 may be fully inserted intothe holder 116 when the pair of ears 122 generally line up with thecavities 120, and the ledge 126 with the opening 128 on the cup toindicate to the user to point the ledge 126 towards the firstorientation 123 of the holder 116 such that when the cup 102 is fullinserted into the holder 116, the pointer mark 124 on the lip 118 may beseen through the opening 128. The cup 102 may have a base 129 sized tofit within the well 117 of the holder.

FIG. 3A shows a perspective interior view of the well 117 of the holder116. Within the well, the holder 116 may have a first needle 130 and asecond needle 132. The first needle 130 may be located towards the firstorientation 123 of the holder 116. The holder 116 may have a stopperledge 141 to support the first needle 130 such that the first needle 130may be adjacent to the pointer mark 124 on the lip 118. The secondneedle 132 may be located towards the second orientation 125 of theholder 116, and the second needle 132 may protrude from the basin 143 ofthe holder. The well 117 may have one or more rib lines 134 along thelongitudinal axis of the holder 116. The well 117 may have inner surfaceareas 119 segmented by the rib lines 134. The needle 130 may be adaptedto pierce through the base 129 of the cup 102. The lip 118 may have tabs136 adapted to engage with a brewer (not shown), which may inject hotwater into the cartridge system 100.

FIG. 3B shows a bottom perspective view of the holder 116. The holdermay have a bottom end 131 on the opposite side of the lip 118. Theholder 116 may have a first funnel 133 coupled to the first needle 130such that liquid may pass through the first needle 130 and exit througha first outlet 137. The holder 116 may have a second funnel 135 coupledto the second needle 132 such that liquid may pass through the secondneedle 132 and exit through a second outlet 139.

FIG. 4A shows a bottom perspective view of the cup 102. The cup 102 mayhave a base 129 defining a side wall 140 extending between the rim 115and the base 129. A portion of the side wall 140 near the base 129 mayhave one or more corner 142 defining a target area 144 along the base129 between the two corners 142. In general, the corners 142 may bemirror image of each other, and each of the corner 142 may have a bend146 defining perpendicular walls 148. The target area 144 may bejuxtaposed to the ledge 126. The base 129 may have one or more innerribs 150, and the side wall 140 may have one or more inner ribs 152along the longitudinal axis of the cup 140. As the cup 102 is insertedinto the well 117 of the holder, the inner ribs 152 may accommodate therib lines 134 within the well 117 of the holder 116; and the side wall140 of the cup 102 may be adjacent to the inner surface area 119 of thewell 117. The rim 115 may have a line of weakness 121 so that the ledge126 may be separated along the line of weakness 121 from the rim 115 byapplying pressure on the ledge 126.

FIG. 4B shows a perspective view of the cup 102 where a basin 154 may beformed between the two corners 142. Channels 156 may be formed betweentwo adjacent ribs 152 such that wider gaps may be formed between thechannels 156 and the sidewall of the filter 104. This may allow thebeverage permeating out of the filter 104 to flow down into the basin154 with less resistance. Base channels 158 may also be formed on thebase 129 between the inner ribs 150 to guide liquid or beverage on thebase 129 toward the basin 154.

FIG. 5A shows a perspective view of the filter 104 with a side wall 161that is folded such that the side wall 161 may be corrugated to formchannels 160 between adjacent peaks 162 along the longitudinal axis ofthe filter 104. The ring 106 may be coupled to the rim 108 of the filter104. The ring 106 may have an inner side 164 and an outer side 166. Therim 108 of the filter 104 may be coupled to the inner side 164 or theouter side 166. The rim 108 of the filter 104 may be coupled to the ring106 through a variety of methods known to one skilled in the art, suchas using adhesive or ultrasonic welding. It is also within the scope ofthe invention to have the rim 108 of the filter 104 to be sealeddirectly onto the inner wall of the cup near the inner ledge 110. Thefilter 104 may have a base 168 with an indentation 170 along the base168 to accommodate the corners 142 of the cup 102 such that the filter104 substantially fill the space within the cup 102.

FIG. 5B shows a top perspective view of the cup filter 104 with moredetail view of the channels 160 and peaks 162. The indentation 170 alongthe portion of the base 162 may form a step 172, which may be supportedby the corners 142 such that when the second needle 132 pierces throughthe basin 154 of the cup 102, the second needle does not pierce throughthe step 172 of the filter 104 thus eliminating the need for a filterguard as the one described in the '0303964 application.

FIG. 6 shows cross-sectional views of the cartridge system 100 and theholder 116. The cartridge system 100 may be assembled by inserting thefilter 104 into the cup such that the ring 106 may be press fitted intothe inner ledge 110 to substantially minimize the hot water injectedinto the beverage grind in the filter 104 from passing through the gapbetween the ring 106 and the inner ledge 110. The step 172 of the filter104 may rest on the corners 142 of the cup, and the base 162 of thefilter 104 may be adjacent to the base 129 of the cup 104 such that thefilter 104 substantially contours the inner surface of the cup 102. Theinner ribs 150 on the base 129 may provide a gap between the base 162 ofthe filter 104 and the base 129 of the cup. Once the beverage grind hasbeen poured into the filter 104, the outer circumference 114 of thecover 112 may be sealed over the rim 115 of the cup 102. The cover 112may be sealed onto the cup 102 through a variety of methods known to oneskilled in the art, such as adhesive and pressure sensitive adhesive sothat the cover may be peeled off after use if desired. For instance,after the cartridge system 100 has been used to make a beverage, theledge 126 may be broken off from the rim 115 along the line of weakness121, and as the ledge 126 is lifted, the cover 112 may also peel offfrom the rim 115 of the cup. With the cover 112 removed, the filter 104with the used beverage grind in the filter may be removed from the cup102 by pulling on the ring 106; thus separating the cup 102 fromcartridge system 100. The cup 102 may be made from recyclable materialso that it can be recycled if desired.

To insert the cup 102 into the holder 116, the pair of ears 122 may beline up with the cavities 120 along the lip 118. The first needle 130may be coupled to the stopper ledge 141 within the well 117. The firstneedle 130 may be coupled to the first tunnel 133, and once the firstneedle 130 pierce through the target area 144 of the cup 102, beveragemay pass through the first needle 130 and exit through the first outlet137. The second needle 132 may protrude from the basin 143 of the holder116, and the second needle 132 may be coupled to the second funnel 135,and beverage may exit through a second outlet 139.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of the cartridge system 100 insertedinto the holder 116. The cartridge system 100 may be inserted into theholder 116 such that the opening 128 may align with the pointer mark 124on the lip 118 such that the ledge 126 may point towards the firstorientation 123 relative to the holder 116. As the cartridge system 100is inserted in the first orientation relative the holder 116, the firstneedle 130 may pierce through the target area 144 of the cup 102. Thestopper ledge 141 of the holder 116 may abut against the target area 144of the cup 102 to support the cup 102 within the holder 116. Note thatthe second needle 132 does not pierce the cartridge system 100.

A brewer system 180 may be provided to brew a beverage. The brewersystem 180 may include an injection needle 182 adapted to pierce throughthe cover 112. The brewer system 180 may include a pump 184 to deliverheated liquid, such as water, though the injection needle 182, and intothe cup 102. The solid direction arrows 186 may generally illustrateflow of hot liquid injected into the cup 102 to wash the beverage grindwithin the filter 104, and pass through the filter 104. The beverage mayutilize the channels 160 to drop down into the base channels 158 of thecup 102, and exit through the first needle 130 to pass through the firstchannel 133 and exit through the first outlet 137.

FIG. 8A shows a graph generally representing distribution of grind sizesof a coffee formulation 190 provide in a single serve cartridge soldunder the trade name of K-Cup® by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.The coffee grind sizes provided in the K-Cup® generally vary from about0.35 mm to about 0.60 mm with a median grind size 192 being about 0.50mm. While coffee brewed from K-Cup® provide adequate coffee strength,the brew time or flow rate of hot water through the K-Cup® is relativelyshort compared to a traditional drip coffee method. In addition, thenarrow range of the coffee grind sizes may result in uneven saturationof the coffee grind such that an upper portion of the coffee grind mayhave greater extraction percentage compared to the lower portion of thecoffee grind. This may result in low extraction of coffee from thecoffee grind such that the TDS level may be low.

FIG. 8B shows a graph generally representing distribution of grind sizesof a coffee formulation 200 provide in a single serve cartridge inaccordance with this invention including a first portion 202 and asecond portion 204. The first portion 202 of the coffee grinds may berepresented by a graph 206 where the grind sizes varies from about 0.18mm to about 0.40 mm, and a median grind size 208 of about 0.32 mm. Thesecond portion 204 of the coffee grinds may be represented by a graph210 where the grind sizes varies from about 0.38 mm to about 0.95 mm,and a median grind size 212 of about 0.75 mm. It is within the scope ofthis invention to have broader and/or narrow grind sizes for the firstportion 202 and the second portion 204 such that there may or may not bean overlap between the graphs 206 and 210. The weight ratio between thefirst and second portions may be from about 1:1 to about 3:1, andpreferably about 2:1. The coffee formulation 200 may be provided in avariety of single cartridge system including K-Cup® and the cartridgesystem 100 described above.

The coffee formulation 200 may be formulated by grinding the firstportion 202 within the grind sizes mentioned above, and grinding thesecond portion 204 within the grind sizes mentioned above. Thereafter,the proper weight ratio between the first and second portions, asdiscussed above, may be mixed together to formulate the coffee grind200. In general, the median grind size 208 of the first portion 202 maybe smaller than the median grind size 192, and the median grind size 212of the second portion 204 may be larger than the median grind size 192.With a combination of distinct smaller and larger coffee grinds of thecoffee formulation 200 compared to the coffee formulation 190, the hotliquid may more evenly saturate the coffee formulation 200 to extractmore coffee from the combination of the coffee grinds, which may resultin a stronger coffee. Moreover, the first portion 202 with smaller grindsizes compared to the coffee formulation 190 may slow down the flow ofhot liquid through the coffee formulation 200, thus allowing more timefor the hot liquid to extract the coffee beverage from the coffeeformulation 200.

Table 1 below shows the test results of coffee brewed from coffeeformulations 190 and 200. In preparation for the test, Starbucks'® CaffeVerona Dark roast K-Cups® were purchased, which is generally made inaccordance to the cartridge described in the '0303964 patentapplication. The amount of coffee grind in each of the K-Cup® varied. Toestablish a common base line, aluminum foil cover was opened, and thecoffee grinds were poured out and measured using a digital weight meter.An average weight was 12.3 grams of coffee grinds. Using this as a baseline, 12.3 grams of same coffee grinds were poured back into emptyK-Cup®, and resealed using a new aluminum foil with adhesive layer onone side. The aluminum cover was wrapped over the rim of the cup. FiveK-Cups® were made with 12.3 grams of the same coffee grind in eachK-Cup®, and they were labeled 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A.

From a Starbucks® store, a bag of Dark Caffe Verona® whole bean coffeewas purchased. The whole beans were grinded using an Encore CoffeeGrinder manufactured by Baratza®. This grinder has many settings togrind the coffee beans in different sizes. Setting the grinder to number8 grinded the coffee to produce the grind sizes generally described inthe first portion 202, and setting the grinder to number 22 grinded thecoffee to produce the grind sizes generally described in the secondportion 204. The assumption here is that using the same type of coffeebeans “Dark Caffe Verona” from the same company, Starbucks®, for testingwould minimize the variances in the testing.

After the first and second portions 202 and 204 were grinded, the coffeeformulation 200 were made by mixing about 2:1 weight ratio of first andsecond portions, respectively. Using the same empty Starbucks' K-Cups®,five K-Cups® were refilled with 12.3 grams of the coffee formulation200, and they were labeled 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, and 5B. Then in alternatingorder, as noted below in Table 1, each K-Cups® were inserted into aKeurig® B70 brewer to make coffee. During each brewing cycle, the sizeof the coffee in (oz), temperature of the coffee in the cup, and thebrew times were measured, as noted below.

TABLE 1 Type of Coffee Gram of Actual Temp brew No. Cup Type grindCoffee Brewer (oz) (° C.) time TDS 1A SBUX K-cup K-cup grind 12.3 B70 777.5 :35 0.98 1B SBUX K-cup combo grind 12.3 B70 7 79.0 :42 1.06 2A SBUXK-cup K-cup grind 12.3 B70 7 81.0 :35 0.98 2B SBUX K-cup combo grind12.3 B70 7 78.0 :40 1.03 3A SBUX K-cup K-cup grind 12.3 B70 7 81.0 :340.97 3B SBUX K-cup combo grind 12.3 B70 7 78.0 :40 1.05 4A SBUX K-cupK-cup grind 12.3 B70 7 81.0 :33 0.98 4B SBUX K-cup combo grind 12.3 B707 80.0 :42 1.06 5A SBUX K-cup K-cup grind 12.3 B70 7 80.0 :34 0.99 5BSBUX K-cup combo grind 12.3 B70 7 78.0 :43 1.10

After the 10 cups coffee were made, the coffee were allowed to cool toroom temperature, then the TDS level were measured using a digitalconductivity meter from HM Digital, Inc., model no. COM-100. As notedabove, B70 consistently brewed same amount of coffee or about 7 oz.However, the average brew time for the coffee formulation 190 was about34.2 seconds, while the average brew time for the coffee formulation 200was about 41.4, which is about 7.2 seconds longer than the coffeeformulation 190. The longer brew time may have contributed brewing astronger coffee because the average TDS level for the coffee formulation200 is about 1.06% compared to the average TDS level for the coffeeformulation 190, which is about 0.98%. This means that the coffeeformulation 200 brews about 8% stronger coffee compared to the coffeeformulation 190 using same amount of coffee.

FIG. 9 shows an expanded view of a cartridge system 300 adapted to brewa beverage. The cartridge system 300 may include an elongated cup 302adapted to house an elongated filter 304. The elongated filter 304 maybe adapted to hold beverage grind, such as grinded coffee or tea,therewithin. A ring 106 may be coupled to a rim 308 of the elongatedfilter 304, and as the filter is fitted inside the elongated cup 302,the ring 106 may releasably engage with an inner ledge 310 formed withinthe elongated cup 302. With beverage grind placed inside the elongatedfilter 304, the cover 112 may enclose the elongated cup 302 by sealingan outer circumference 114 of the cover 112 around the rim 315 of theelongated cup 302. The holder 116 may be adapted to receive thecartridge system 300 within the well 117 such that the second needle 132may pierce a target area 312 on the base 314. The elongated cup 302 mayhave a side wall 316 between the rim 315 and the base 314. The side wall316 may have a cavity 318 along a portion of the elongated cup 302 alongits elongated axis below a ledge 326. The cavity 318 may be adapted toreceive the first needle 130 such that the first needle 130 may notpierce the elongated cup 302 as discussed in more detail below.

FIG. 10 shows a bottom perspective view of the elongated cup 302 thatmay be similar to the cup 102 described above, except that the side wall316 may have the cavity 318 extending partially along the longitudinalaxis of the elongated cup 302 underneath the ledge 326, and the base 314may have a recess 319 adapted to receive the first needle 130 as the cup302 is inserted into the holder 116. The base 314 may have a target area320 on the opposite side of the recess 319. The distance between the rim315 and the base 314 of the elongated cup 302 may be greater than thedistance between the rim 115 and the base 129 of the cup 102.

FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional view of the cartridge system 300inserted into the holder 116. The cartridge system 300 may be insertedinto the holder 116 such that an opening 328 within the ledge 326 mayalign with the pointer mark 124 on the lip 118 such that the cartridgesystem 300 may be inserted so that the ledge 326 points towards thefirst orientation 123 relative to the holder 116. As the cartridgesystem 300 is inserted towards the first orientation relative the holder116, the cavity 318 of the elongated cup 302 may receive the firstneedle 130 without pierce the elongated cup 302. The second needle 132,however, may pierce the target area 320 of the elongated cup 302.

A brewer system 180 may be provided to inject hot water through theinjection needle 182 adapted to pierce through the cover 112. The soliddirection arrows 330 may generally illustrate flow of hot liquidinjected into the elongated cup 302 to wash the beverage grind withinthe filter 304, and pass through the filter 304. The beverage may dropdown into the base 314 of the cup 302, and exit through the secondneedle 132 to pass through the second channel 135 and exit through thesecond outlet 139. The elongated filter 304 may hold more beverage grindthan the filter 104 so that a bigger cup of beverage may be brewed.Moreover, the elongated filter 304 may hold the coffee grind in anelongated form such that it may take longer time for hot water from theinjection needle 182 to flow through the coffee grind and reach thesecond needle 132. The longer contact time between the hot water and thecoffee grind may allow for greater extraction of coffee beverage fromthe coffee grind to brew stronger coffee. Note, it is within the scopeof the invention to configure the elongated cup 304 to have both of thefirst and second needles 130 and 132 pierce the elongated cup 304.

FIG. 12A shows a cross-sectional view of a cartridge system 400. Thecartridge system 400 may be similar to the cartridge system 100, asdiscussed above, except that a filter 404 within the cup 102 may beshorter than the filter 104 such that the cup 102 may be dividedgenerally into a first chamber 406 and a second chamber 408. The firstchamber 406 may be the space within the filter 404 adapted to hold afirst beverage grind 410. The second chamber 408 may be the spacebetween a bottom 409 of the filter 404 and the basin 154 of the cup 102.The second chamber 408 may hold a second beverage grind 412. Forexample, the first beverage grind 410 may be coffee grind, and thesecond beverage grind 412 may be powder creamer and/or sweetener.

Incorporating creamer in the second chamber 408 allows creamer to beadded to the coffee beverage in one-step process. As hot water injectedthrough the injection needle 182 extract coffee from the coffee grind410 within the filter 404, the hot coffee beverage passes through thefilter 404 and enters the second chamber 408, and dissolves the powdercreamer 412. The combination of creamy coffee may then exits through thefirst needle 130. One of the desirable characteristics of powder creameris to dissolve quickly and thoroughly so that the powder creamer doesnot clog up the first needle 130. In this regard, powder creamers usedin instant coffee may be utilized. In particular, powder creamer made inaccordance with Korean patent application publication number1020120042406 with publication date of Mar. 5, 2012 entitled “PRODUCINGMETHOD OF COFFEE CREAMER POWDER HAVING IMPROVED MILK FLAVOR,” (the“'42406 application”) may be used utilized, which is hereby incorporatedby reference.

Note, it is within the scope of this invention to incorporate a secondbeverage grind 412 into the second camber in the K-Cup®, which is thespace between the bottom of the filter and the bottom of the cup. With afinite space in the K-Cup®, the weight ratio between the coffee grind inthe filter and the creamer may vary. For instance, with the creamerdescribed in the '42406 application, the coffee grind to creamer weightratio may be from about 2:1 to about 2:3, and in particular about 1:1.For instance, while taste can be subjective, a good milky coffee tastewas obtain when 6.0 oz cup was brewed using about 10.0 grams of coffeegrind in the first chamber, and about 9.0 grams of creamer in the secondchamber using a K-Cup®. While it was possible to add more coffee grindand creamer into the first and second chambers, respectively, doing somay in some instances cause the coffee grind and creamer to be tooclosely packed together within the K-Cup®. This increased the resistanceto flow of hot water through the coffee grind such that hot water mayleak out through the gap between the injection needle 182 and the cover112. Moreover, adding more creamer to the second chamber, in someinstance, caused the creamer to not dissolve thoroughly such that clumpsof creamer were left in the bottom of the cup. As such, in someinstances, adding more creamer had the opposite effect in that lessmilky flavor were detected in the coffee because not all of the powdercream dissolved into the coffee.

FIG. 12B shows a cross-sectional view of a cartridge system 500. Thecartridge system 500 may be similar to the cartridge system 300, asdiscussed above, except that the filter 104 may be incorporated into thecup 302 to generally divide the elongated cup 302 into a first chamber506 and a second chamber 508. The first chamber 506 may be the spacewithin the filter 104 to hold more beverage grind than the cartridgesystem 400, and hold more creamer in the second chamber 508. This allowsthe cartridge system 500 to brew a bigger cup of coffee with creamer inone-step process compared to the cartridge system 400. In addition toincorporating creamer and sweetener in the second chamber 508, othertaste flavoring may be added to enhance the taste the beverage.Moreover, scent enhancing materials may be added in the second chamberto enhance the aroma scent of coffee to intensify the aroma smell fromthe cup of coffee.

FIG. 13A shows a perspective view of a cartridge system 600 similar tothe cartridge system 400, as discussed above, with the followingdifferences. The cartridge system 600 includes a filter 602 within a cup604. The rim 606 of the filter 602 may be sealed around the inner edge608 located adjacent to the rim 610 of the cup 604. The cup 604 may nothave corners 142 along the bottom, as described in reference to the cup102, to maximize the space of the second chamber, as discussed in moredetail below. The cup 604 may be sized to have similar dimensions asK-Cup® such that the outer diameter D1 adjacent to the rim 610 of thecup may be from about 40.0 mm to about 47.0 mm, and in particular about45.5 mm. The bottom outer diameter D2 may be from about 34.0 mm to about38.0 mm, and in particular about 36.5 mm.

FIG. 13B shows a cross-section view of the cartridge system 600 alongthe line 13-13 of FIG. 13A. The filter 606 within the cup 604 may beshorter than the filter 104 such that the cup 604 may be dividedgenerally into a first chamber 612 and a second chamber 614. The secondchamber 614 may be filled with the second beverage grind 412 such aspowder creamer and/or sweetener to a level H3 from a basin 616 of thecup 604. The filter 602 may be sized to substantially fill the remainingspace within the cup 604 such that a distance between the rim 610 of thecup and a bottom 618 of the filter 602 may be about H2. The filter 602may be sealed to the inner edge 608 of the cup after the second beveragegrind 412 is filled within the second chamber 614 such that the bottom618 of filter may be substantially horizontal relative to the basin 616.The height of the cup 604 between a bottom 620 and the rim 610 of thecup 604 is H1. The distance H1 may be from about 43.0 mm to about 46.0mm, and in particular about 44.5 mm. In situations where the bottom 618of the filter 602 substantially makes contact with the second beveragegrind 412, the H1 may be about the sum of H2 and H3.

In applications where the system 600 is used for brewing creamy coffeein one-step, the distance H3 may be about 30% to about 60% relative tothe distance H1; and in particular, the distance H3 may be about 40% toabout 50% relative to the distance H1. The distance H3 may varydepending on the desired creamy flavor of the coffee, where adding morecream, or increasing H3, relative to the coffee grind may add morecreamy flavor to the coffee, and vice versa. The distance H2 may beabout 40% to about 70% relative to the distance H1; and in particular,the distance H2 may be about 50% to about 60% relative to the distanceH1. The cup 604 may also have the volume ratio between the first andsecond chambers 612 and 614 from about 3:7 to about 6:4, and inparticular from about 2:3 to about 1:1.

The distance H1 may be greater than the sum of H2 and H3 such that theremay be a gap between the bottom 618 of the filter 602 and the secondarybeverage grind 412. Providing a gap or space between the filter 602 andthe secondary beverage grind 412 may improve the dissolvability ofpowder cream within the second chamber 614. This may be due to providingextra space within the second chamber 614, which may improve thedissolvability of the power cream.

FIG. 13C shows a cross-section view of a cartridge system 600 with thefilter 606 within the cup 604 holding coffee grind 607, and the secondchamber 614 may have a pouch 615 filled with the second beverage grind412 such as powder creamer and/or sweetener. The pouch 615 may be a meshfilter to contain the powder creamer therein and allow the powdercreamer to permeate when dissolved with hot water. The pouch 615 may besized to contain the second beverage grind 412 to substantially preventthe grind 412 from making contact with the filter 606 thereby providinga space 618 between the filter 606 and pouch 615. Providing a gap orspace between the filter 606 and the grind 412 may improve thedissolvability of the powder grind 412. Moreover, the pouch 615 may bemade of a mesh filter material that may substantially resist beingpunctured by the first needle 130 at the bottom of the cup holder 116such that the pouch 615 conforms around the needle 130, as shown in FIG.13C. This may substantially prevent the dry powder cream from passingthrough the needle 130 and dropping into the cup before the powder creamdissolve into liquid form. However, it is within the scope of theinvention to have the needle 130 pierce through the pouch 615.

The amount of powder cream within the second chamber 614 and/or pouch615 may vary depending on the desired creamy and/or sweetness flavor. Asa way of background, Keurig® brewers for K-Cups® generally takes about30 to about 35 seconds for hot water to pass through the K-Cup® forabout an 8 oz cup of beverage. The powder cream may be formulated andthe amount of powder cream within the second chamber 614 and/or pouch615 may be such that the powder cream substantially dissolves less thanabout 25 seconds for an 8 oz cup of beverage so that the bottom needlemay be rinsed or purged with the remaining 5 to 10 seconds with hotbeverage. This allows the bottom needle to be substantially kept cleanso that in the next brew cycle, the beverage may have minimal powdercreamy residue.

FIG. 14 shows the bottom 620 of the cup 604 having a circular line ofweakness 622. The cup 604 may be made from a recyclable material, whichmay be harder than the non-recyclable material. With the hardermaterial, it may take more downward force to have the bottom needlepierce through the bottom 620 of the cup 604 near the target area 624,which may dull the tip of the needle. The line of weakness 622 maycircle the target area 624 to minimize the force it takes to piercethrough the target area 624. Alternatively, a hole may be formed on thetarget area and the hole may be sealed with an aluminum foil so that thebottom needle may pierce through the aluminum foil with nominal force.

FIG. 15A shows a perspective view of a cartridge system 700 including acup 702 with a side wall 704 between a rim 706 and a bottom 708. Thesystem 700 may include a lid 710 to cover the rim 706 to hold thebeverage medium within the cup 702. The side wall 704 may be integratedwith filter elements 712 between ribs 714. The ribs 714 maysubstantially extend between the rim 706 and the bottom 708. The bottom708 may be a solid base or integrated with filter element as well. Thecup 702 may have a recess 716 formed along the bottom 708 and the sidewall 702 adapted to receive the bottom needle when the cup 702 isinserted into the cup holder 116 such that the bottom needle does notpierce the cup 702. The lid 710 may have a ledge 719 to indicate theproper orientation of the cartridge system 700 so that the cartridgesystem 700 may be inserted in the proper orientation within the holder116 such that the bottom needle is within the recess 716 of the cup 702.

FIG. 15B shows a side view of the cartridge system 700 with the filterelements 712 integrated between the ribs 714. The cup 702 may be sizedto substantially fill the well 117 of the cup holder 116 to maximize theamount of coffee grind the cup 702 can hold. The ribs 714, rim 706, andthe bottom 708 may be made from a plastic material, and the filter maybe made from a mesh with sufficient pores to allow the beverage to passtherethrough while keeping the beverage medium therein.

FIG. 15C shows a cross-sectional view of the cartridge system 700 withina cup holder 718. The cup holder 718 may have a first outlet needle 720and a second outlet needle 722. The first outlet needle 720 may belocated between a lip 724 of the holder 718 and the second outlet needle722 along a longitudinal axis 726 of the holder 718. The lip 724 mayalso have an pointer mark 728 to orient the cartridge system 700 in thedirection where the ledge 719 faces the pointer mark 728 such that whenthe cartridge system 700 is inserted into the cup holder 718, the firstoutlet needle 720 is within the recess 716 of the cup 702. With thefilter element 712 integrated within the side wall 704, the space withinthe cup 702 may be enlarged to hold more of the beverage medium 730.

FIG. 16 shows a cross-sectional view of the cartridge system 800 withinthe cup holder 718. The cartridge system 800 includes a cup 802 with aside wall 804 between a rim 806 and a bottom 808. The cup 802 may belonger relative to the cup 702 such that the bottom 808 of the cup maybe adjacent to the base 732 of the cup holder 718. The side wall 804 maybe integrated with filter elements 812 between ribs 814. The cup 802 maybe configured to not interfere with the first and second outlet needles720 and 722. With the cup 802 being taller than the cup 702, the cup 802may hold more beverage medium such as coffee grind. In particular, themedian coffee grind size in the cartridge system 800 may be larger thanthe median coffee grind size used in the cup 702 or in K-Cup® by about10% to about 30% to minimize the resistance to flow of hot water flowingfrom top to bottom.

FIG. 17 shows a perspective cross-sectional view of a cartridge system900. The cartridge system 900 includes a cup 902 adapted to receive afilter 904. The filter 904 may have a rim 906 sized to press fit into aninner ledge 910 of the cup 902. The filter 904 may have a side wall 912between the rim 906 and a bottom 914. The filter 904 may be integratedwith filter elements 916 between ribs 918. The filter 904 may have arecess 920 formed along the bottom 914 and the side wall 912 adapted toreceive the bottom needle when the cup 902 is inserted into the cupholder 718 such that the bottom needle does not pierce the cup 902.

FIG. 18A shows a perspective cross-sectional view of a cartridge system1000. The cartridge system 1000 includes a cup 1002 adapted to receive afilter 1004. The cartridge system 1000 may be taller than the cartridgesystem 900 such that the cup 1002 and filter 1004 are longer than thecup 902 and filter 904 adapted to hold more beverage medium such ascoffee grind. The filter 1004 may be configured to not interfere withthe second outlet needle 722.

FIG. 18B shows an outer configuration of the cup 1002 adapted to fitinside the cup holder 718. The cup may have a base 1003 and a lip 1005,and a side wall 1009 between the lip and the base. The side wall 1009may have a cavity 1011 along the longitudinal axis of the cup 1002forming a substantial recess 1013 on the base 1003. The size of therecess 1013 may be substantially greater than the size of the cavities1015 formed between two adjacent ribs 1017. The cavity 1011 may beadapted to receive the first outlet needle 720 such that the needle 720does not pierce the cup. However, it is within the scope of theinvention to have both the first and second outlet needles pierce thecup. Conversely, it is within the scope of the invention to not have thefirst and second outlet needles pierce the cup such as when a mesh cupis used.

FIGS. 19A-19C show a various perspective views of the cup holder 718having the first and second outlet needles. The cup holder 718 may havea main body 740 and a funnel 742 releasably coupled to the main body740. FIG. 19D shows a perspective view of the main body 740 without thefunnel. The outer shape of the cup holder 718 may be substantiallysimilar to the cup holder 23 provided with Keurig® brewers, as discussedabove in reference to FIG. 1B, such that the cup holders 718 and 23 maybe interchangeable without interfering with the closing and openingactuation of the lid 22 and receptacle 20 of the brewer 10. This allowssome 12 million U.S. households with a Keurig's® brewer to be compatiblewith K-Cups® and cartridge systems 100, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800,900, and 1000, as discussed above. This would allow the Keurig® brewersto brew not only small cup of coffee but a larger and stronger cup ofcoffee with the taller cartridge systems 300, 800, and 1000. Inaddition, coffee mixed with cream and/or sweetener may be brewed inone-step with the cartridge systems 400, 500, and 600. Note that it iswithin the scope of the invention to interchange the various filtersdisclosed in this application to have coffee and creamer integrated intoone cartridge system.

The following methods may be utilized to replace the cup holder 23provided with Keurig® brewers with the cup holder 718. The method mayinclude: providing an interchangeable cup holder with a first needle anda second needle, the interchangeable cup holder having a lip and a base,the first needle located between the lip and the second needle, and theinterchangeable cup holder having an outer configuration that issubstantially similar to the outer configuration of the cup holderprovided with a Keurig® brewer; providing an instruction to remove thecup holder provided with the Keurig® brewer; and providing aninstruction to insert the interchangeable cup holder into the Keurig®brewer.

A method of replacing the cup holder provided with a Keurig® brewer mayinclude: providing an interchangeable cup holder with a first needle anda second needle, the interchangeable cup holder having a lip and a base,the first needle located between the lip and the second needle, and theinterchangeable cup holder having an outer configuration that issubstantially similar to the outer configuration of the cup holderprovided with a Keurig® brewer; and providing an instruction to replacethe cup holder provided with the Keurig® brewer with the interchangeablecup holder.

Another method of replacing the cup holder provided with a Keurig®brewer may include: providing an interchangeable cup holder with a firstneedle and a second needle, the interchangeable cup holder having a lipand a base, the first needle located between the lip and the secondneedle, and the interchangeable cup holder having an outer configurationthat is substantially similar to the outer configuration of the cupholder provided with a Keurig® brewer; removing the cup holder providedwith the Keurig® brewer; and inserting the interchangeable cup holderinto the Keurig® brewer.

Another method of replacing the cup holder provided with a Keurig®brewer may include: providing an interchangeable cup holder with a firstneedle and a second needle, the interchangeable cup holder having a lipand a base, the first needle located between the lip and the secondneedle, and the interchangeable cup holder having an outer configurationthat is substantially similar to the outer configuration of the cupholder provided with a Keurig® brewer; and replacing the cup holderprovided with the Keurig® brewer with the interchangeable cup holder.

A method of exchanging the cup holder provided with a Keurig® brewerwith an interchangeable cup holder may include: stocking a plurality ofinterchangeable cup holders, each of the interchangeable cup holderhaving a first needle and a second needle, each of the interchangeablecup holder having a lip and a base, the first needle located between thelip and the second needle, and each of the interchangeable cup holderhaving an outer configuration that is substantially similar to the outerconfiguration of the cup holder provided with a Keurig® brewer; offeringto exchange the cup holder provided with the Keurig® brewer with theinterchangeable cup holder; and shipping the interchangeable cup holderto a Keurig® brewer owner when the owner requests the exchange.

A method of providing an interchangeable cup holder may include:providing an interchangeable cup holder with a first needle and a secondneedle, the interchangeable cup holder having a lip and a base, thefirst needle located between the lip and the second needle, and theinterchangeable cup holder having an outer configuration that issubstantially similar to the outer configuration of the cup holderprovided with a Keurig® brewer; packing a plurality of cartridge systemsinto a container, each of the cartridge system having a cup with a rimand a bottom, the second needle adapted to pierce the bottom of the cupwhen the cup is inserted into the interchangeable cup holder; andinserting the interchangeable cup holder into the container.

FIG. 20 shows a brewing chamber system 800 including a cup holder 802adapted to receive a cartridge 804. The cup holder 802 may besubstantially similar to the holder 23 as discussed above in referenceto FIG. 1B provided with a Keurig® brewer with the following difference.The cup holder 802 may have a needle 806 with one or more tabs 808protruding out from the well 810. The cartridge 804 may have an outerconfiguration that is substantially similar to an outer configuration ofK-Cup® with the following difference. The cartridge 804 may have one ormore indentation corners 812 at the juncture between the base 814 andthe side wall 816. The cartridge 804 may have a ledge 818 to orient thecartridge 804 so that the cartridge 804 may be inserted into the cupholder 802 with the ledge oriented towards the pointer mark 820 on thecup holder 802.

When the cartridge 804 is inserted into the cup holder 802, the needle806 may pierce a target area 822 on the base 814, and the indentationcorners 812 may receive the tabs 808 to allow the needle 806 to fullypierce through the target area 822. With the brewing chamber system 800,the traditional K-cups® without the corners 812 may not fully fit insidethe cup holder 802 due to the tabs 808 substantially blocking the baseor bottom of the traditional K-cups® from being fully inserted. With thebrewer chamber system 802, the cup holder 802 and the cartridge 804 mayfunction as a lock and key system such that unauthorized cartridges,without the corners 812, may not work with the cup holder 802. Note thatit is within the scope of the invention to utilize a variety of otherlock and key features such that only authorized cartridges may be fullyinserted into a cup holder such as the cup holder 802. For instance, itis within the scope of the invention to have one tab 808, and the tab808 may be located anywhere in the bottom of the cup holder. Inaddition, other protrusion element may be provided within the well 810to function as a lock, and the cartridge 804 may have correspondingindentation adapted to receive the protrusion so that the cartridge maybe fully inserted into the well 810 to allow the needle 806 to piercethe target area 822.

With the K-cup® patents, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,840,189 and 5,325,765, nowexpired, many unauthorized alternative cartridge may be introduced towork with Keurig® brewers. In order to prevent the unauthorized genericcartridges from working with the Keurig® brewers, the cup holdersprovided with the Keurig® brewers already in the market place, such asthe holder 23, may be replaced with a cup holder specially configured towork with an authorized cartridge such as the cup holder 802 and thecartridge 804.

FIG. 21A shows an expanded perspective view of a cartridge system 900including a rib cage 902 with a plurality of ribs 904 extending from arim 906 and converging at a bottom 908. The rim 906 may have a ledge 910to orient the cartridge system 900 in the proper direction wheninserting the cartridge system 900 into the cup holder 718. The rib cage902 may have a shield 912 between two adjacent ribs 904 near the ledge910. The rib cage 902 may be adapted to receive a filter mesh 914 havinga rim 916. The filter mesh 914 may be flexible and inserted into the ribcage 902, and the rim 916 of the filter 914 may be coupled or sealed tothe rim 906 of the rib cage 902. Once the filter mesh 914 is insertedinto the rib cage 904, the filter mesh 914 may conform to the shape ofthe rib cage 904 such that the filter mesh 914 may form a recess 918 dueto the shield 912. The recess area 918 may be adapted to receive thebottom needle when the cartridge system 900 is inserted into the cupholder 718 such that the bottom needle does not pierce the filter mesh914. The cartridge system 900 may include a lid 920 adapted to seal therim 906 of the rib cage 904. The cartridge system 900 filled with coffeegrind within the filter 914 may be placed inside a pouch and sealed tokeep the coffee grind fresh.

FIG. 21B shows a perspective view of an assembled cartridge system 900with the filter mesh 914 within the rib cage 902, and the lid 920enclosing the rim 906 of the rib cage 902 and/or rim 916 of the filter914. The filter mesh 914 conforms to the shape of the shield 912 to formthe recess area 918. The ribs 904 may join at the bottom 908 such thatthe filter mesh 914 at the bottom may be porous to allow beverage topermeate.

FIG. 22A shows an expanded perspective view of a cartridge system 1000that is similar to the cartridge system 900 described above with thefollowing differences. The cartridge system 1000 includes a rib cage1002 with a plurality of ribs 1004 adapted to receive the filter mesh1008. The ribs 1004 may converge at a bottom 1006 forming a nipple likeconfiguration. The rib cage 1002 and the filter mesh 1008 may be longerthan the rib cage 902 and the filter 914 so that the filter mesh 1008may hold more beverage grind. The cartridge system 1000 may have a lid1010 to seal the rim 1015 of the rib cage 902.

FIG. 22B shows a cross-sectional view of the cartridge system 1000within the cup holder 718. The cartridge system 1000 may be configuredsuch that the first and second outlet needles 720 and 722 may not piercethe filter mesh 1008. Hot water injected through the top needle 182 maypass through the beverage grind and pass through the filter mesh 1008 asindicated by direction arrows 1012 and drip down into a cup. The bottom1006 having a nipple configuration may allow the beverage to flow downsmoothly. It is within the scope of this invention for the cartridgesystem 1000 to be used as a reusable refill cup where the lid 1010 maybe pivotably coupled to the rim 1015 at a pivot axis 1011 to allow thelid to open and close. A user may open the lid 1010, fill the cup withits own coffee grind, and close the lid to substantially seal the coffeegrind within the cup. The lid 1010 may have a deep cavity 1013 adaptedto receive the needle 182 without piercing the lid. The deep cavity 1013may be porous to allow the heated water from the needle 182 to passtherethrough.

FIG. 23 shows a perspective view of a cartridge system 1100 that issimilar to the cartridge system 1000 described above except that a ribcage 1102 may have a skirt 1104 extending down from a rim 1106, and ribs1108 extending down from the skirt 1104. The skirt 1104 maysubstantially prevent beverage from permeating through the top portionof the filter mesh 1008 such that the beverage permeates through theopen filter mesh areas 1110. This may allow the beverage grind withinthe filter mesh 1008 to be more evenly saturated or washed with hotwater. Without the skirt 1104, the beverage grind near the bottomportion of the filter mesh 1008 may increase the resistance to flow ofliquid such that the beverage grind near the bottom portion may not getsufficient saturation from the hot water injected through the top needle182. In addition, to allow more even saturation along the longitudinalaxis of the filter mesh 1008, the median coffee grind size in thecartridge system 1100 may be larger than the median coffee grind sizeused in the cup 702 or in K-cup® by about 10% to about 30% to minimizethe resistance to flow of hot water flowing from top to bottom.

FIG. 24 shows a perspective view of a cartridge system 1200 having askirt 1202 with a sinusoidal configuration with length L, a width W1,and a gap between two adjacent waves being W2. The variables L, W1, andW2 may be adjusted to evenly saturate the beverage grind within thefilter mesh 1008. The cartridge system 1200 may have a lid

FIG. 25A shows an elongated plastic filter 1300 with pours 1302 sized toallow beverage to pass therethrough while containing the beverage grindtherewithin. The number of pours or density of pours may increase fromthe rim 1304 to the bottom 1306 to compensate for the increase inresistance to flow of liquid due the beverage grind formed in anelongated fashion due to the elongated filter 1300.

FIG. 25B shows a side view of the plastic filter 1300 with number ofpours 1302 varying along the length L from the rim 1304 to the bottom1306. The graph on the right shows that the density or number of pours1302 may vary linearly as shown by the graph 1308, in steps as shown bythe graph 1310, and non-linearly as shown by the graph 1312. Inaddition, for elongated filter 1300, the size of the beverage grindwithin the filter 1300 may vary along the length L as shown in graphs1308, 1310, and 1312 to compensate for the resistance to flow of liquiddeeper into the filter or as L increases. This may allow the hot liquidfrom the top needle to more evenly saturate the beverage grind in thefilter to brew more full body or even taste.

FIG. 26 shows a cross-sectional view an elongated cartridge system 1400adapted to fit inside the cup holder 718. The cartridge system 1400 mayinclude an elongated cup 1402 adapted to house an elongated filter 1404,and a lid 1406 to enclose the rim 1408 of the cup 1402. The cup 1402 maybe sized to fit inside the cup holder 718 such that the bottom 1410 ofthe cup 1402 may be pierced by the second needle 722 when the cartridgesystem 1400 is inserted into the cup holder 718. By way of background,traditional K-Cups® hold about 10 to 13 grams of coffee grind within thefilter. With the traditional K-Cups® being shorter than the elongatedcartridge system 1400, the coffee grind in the K-Cups® are held in ashort cylindrical fashion. This means that the hot water from the topneedle travels a shorter distance from the top to bottom of the coffeegrind in the K-Cups® compared to the cartridge system 1400. Putdifferently, the wash time or contact time between the hot water and thecoffee grind is relatively short because the travel distance is short.This may result in a less than full extraction of coffee flavor from thecoffee grind.

To increase the wash time between the hot water and the coffee grind,the filter 1404 may be elongated and configured to hold about 10 to 13grams of coffee grind in an elongated form from the rim 1412 to thebottom 1414 of the filter 1404. This may mean that the diameter D of thefilter 1404 may be smaller such that substantial gap 1416 may be formedbetween the filter 1404 and the cup 1402. With the increase wash time,more flavor may be extracted from the same coffee grind to brew a moreflavorful cup of beverage such as coffee. As discussed above inreference to FIG. 25B, the grind size may be varied to provide a moreeven saturation of the coffee grind within the filter 1404.

FIG. 26B shows a cross-sectional view of an elongated cartridge system1500 that is similar to the cartridge system 1400 expect that the rim1412 of the filter 1404 may be coupled to the lid 1406 such that the rim1412 of the filter 1404 is within the rim 1408 of the cup 1402.

FIG. 27 shows a cross-sectional view of a cartridge system 1600including a cup 1602 divided generally into a first chamber 1604 and asecond chamber 1606. The first chamber 1604 may be defined by the spacewithin the filter 1608 adapted to hold a first beverage grind 1610. Thesecond chamber 1606 may be the remaining space within the cup 1602. Thesecond chamber 1606 may hold a second beverage grind 1612. For example,the first beverage grind 1610 may be coffee grind, and the secondbeverage grind 1612 may be powder creamer and/or sweetener. Thecartridge system 1600 may include a lid 1614 adapted to seal around therim 1616 of the cup 1602. The lid 1614 may also have an inner flowdistributor 1618 adapted to expand within the first chamber 1604. Aportion of the rim 1619 of the filter 1608 may be sealed to the lid 1614such that there is a space 1621 between the rim 1619 of the filter 1608and the rim 1616 of the cup 1602.

The cartridge system 1600 may be adapted to work with a brewer systemthat orients the cartridge system 1600 in an angle θ from a horizontalplane 1623 where direction arrow 1620 generally indicates the directionof gravity. The brewer system may provide a first needle 1622 adapted topierce the lid 1614 such that the tip 1624 of the first needle 1622expands the inner flow distributor 1618 and is guarded by the inner flowdistributor 1618 such that the first beverage grind 1610 does not clogthe first needle 1622. The brewer system may also provide a secondneedle 1626 that pierces the lid 1614 at the space 1621 to drain thebeverage within the cup 1602. As the first needle 1622 injects hot waterinto the filter 1608, the extracted beverage may permeate through thefilter 1608 and dissolve the second beverage grind 1612, such as powdercreamer, and the combination of beverage flavor may exit through thesecond needle 1626 as indicated by the direction arrows 1628.

FIG. 28A shows a perspective cross-sectional view of a cartridge system1700 including a cup 1702 housing a filter 1704. The rim 1706 of thefilter 1704 may be sealed around the inner edge 1708 of the cup locatedadjacent to the rim 1710 of the cup 1702. The cup 1702 may be sized tohave similar dimensions as K-Cup®. The filter 1704 may be configured tosubstantially fill the interior space of the cup 1702 such that thebottom 1712 of the filter 1704 may be juxtaposed to the basin 1714 ofthe cup 1702 to substantially maximize the interior space 1716 of thefilter 1704. This allows ease in which to pack the cup 1702 withbeverage grind and to pack as much as possible the beverage grindtherein. The basin 1714 of the cup 1702 may have one or more ribs 1718to provide a passageway 1720 between the ribs for the beveragepermeating out of the filter 1704 to flow therethrough. Note that it iswithin the scope of this invention to have a certain portion of thebottom 1712 of the filter 1704 be in contact with the basin 1714 of thecup. Alternatively, a gap may be formed between the bottom 1712 of thefilter 1704 and throughout the basin 1724 such no bottom portion 1712 ofthe filter 1704 is in contact with the basin 1714.

FIG. 28B shows a side cross-sectional view of the cartridge system 1700with the top needle 182 piercing through a top cover 1722, and thebottom needle 130 piercing through the basin 1714. The bottom 1712 ofthe filter 1704 may be juxtaposed to the basin 1714 such that when thebottom needle 130 piercing through the basin 1714, the bottom needle 130may push the bottom 1712 of the filter 1704 up, as indicated by a raisedportion 1724, without piercing through the raised portion of the filter1704 at a point of contact 1724 as shown in FIG. 28B.

The filter 1704 may be formed from a material that is substantiallyresistance to piercing by the bottom needle 130 while allowing thebeverage liquid to permeate therethrough during the brewing process. Thepressure within the cartridge may increase substantially during thebrewing process for the following reasons: (1) as heated water isinjected into the cartridge through the top needle, the beverage grindgenerally expands as the grind absorb heated water; (2) the heated waterfills the spaces within the cartridge, thus exerting outer pressure; and(3) the heat from the hot water increases the pressure within the cup.These factors apply pressure on the filter to expand during the brewingprocess such that a filter made of a weak material like the paper filterused in a K-cup® may tear when pressed against a sharp object like thebottom needle. This would result in the beverage grind being poured intoa mug, which is undesirable. As such, the filter according to thisinvention may be made from a cotton fabric material such as muslincotton, synthetic material such as nylon, or paper material engineeredto be resistant to piercing or tearing yet allowing the beverage liquidto permeate therethrough. Note that it is within the scope of theinvention to use a variety of filter material that is known to oneskilled in the art that is substantially resistant to piercing by thebottom needle 130 due to the pressure applied to the filter due to thebottom needle piercing through the cup and during the brewing process.With regard to the cartridge system 1700, the gap between the bottom1712 of the filter 1704 and the basin 1714 may be generally described asa space in which the bottom needle 130 may make contact with the bottom1712 of the filter 1704 after the bottom needle 130 has been fullyinserted into the bottom of the cup.

FIG. 29 shows a perspective cross-sectional view of a cartridge system1800 including a cup 1802 housing a filter 1804 where the filter 1804substantially fills the interior space 1806 of the cup. The bottom 1808of the filter 108 may be juxtaposed to the basin 1810 of the cup 1802with the filter material substantially resistant to piercing by thebottom needle in a manner similar to the cartridge system 1700 discussedabove in reference to FIG. 28. The cup 1802 and the filter 1804,however, may be longer along its longitudinal axis 1812 relative to thecup 1702 and the filter 1704.

FIG. 30 shows a schematic diagram of a beverage brewer system 10A havinga reservoir 12A adapted to hold fluid such as liquid water to serve aplurality of different beverages such as coffee. The reservoir 12A mayhave an opening 14A to allow a user to pour liquid into the reservoir12A. The reservoir 12A may have a base 16A with a drain hole 18A toallow the liquid to flow therethrough. A first tube 20A may be coupledto the drain hole 18A to a first pump 22A adapted to pump the water inthe reservoir 12A through a second tube 24A.

The system 10A may include a heating member 26A adapted to receive thewater from the second tube 24A. The heating member 26A may be open tothe atmosphere or it may be sealed to the atmosphere. In thisembodiment, the heating member 26A may have an opening 27A so that theair in the heating member 26A may be displaced to the atmosphere aswater enters the heating member 26A through the second tube 24A. Thisallows the first pump 22A to utilize nominal power to pump water intothe heating member 26A compared to a heating member that issubstantially sealed to the atmosphere due to the rise in the pressurewithin the sealed heating member.

The heating member 26A may include a wall 28A that may partially dividethe heating member 26A into a first section 30A and a second section32A. The second tube 24A may provide the water from the reservoir 12Ainto the first section 30A. The heating member 26A may have a heatingelement 34A adapted to heat the water within the heating member 26A. Theheating element 34A may be juxtaposed to a basin 36A of the heatingmember 26A, and positioned between the wall 28A and the basin 36A. Theheating member 26A may include a third tube 38A having a first end 40Aand a second end 42A.

The heating member 26A may have a first probe 44A and a second probe49A. The first probe 44A may have a first end 46A and a second end 48A,and the second probe 46A may have a first end 50A and a second end 52A.The first ends 46A and 50A of the first and second probes 44A and 46A,respectively, may be adapted to detect water. The first end 40A may belocated a distance X relative the basin 36A, and the first end 46A maybe located a distance Y relative to the basin 36A, where Y may be lessthan X. The first end 50A may be juxtaposed to a cover 54A of theheating member 26A. The heating member 26A may also include atemperature sensor 56A located juxtaposed to the first end 40A toapproximate the temperature of the water near the first end 40A.

The second end 42A of the third tube 38A may be fluidly coupled to afourth tube 58A between first and second ends 60A and 62A. The fourthtube 58A may have a switch 64A juxtaposed to the second end 62A adaptedto open and close to the atmosphere. The second end 42A may be fluidlycoupled to the fourth tube 58A between the switch 64A and the first end60A. The first end 60A may be coupled to a second pump 66A such thatwater from the third tube 38A may be pumped through a fifth tube 68A andinto a brewing chamber 70A. The brewer chamber 70A may be adapted toreceive a cartridge 72A and pierce the top with a first needle 74A, andpierce the bottom with a second needle 76A. In certain applicationswhere the cartridge is designed to be pierced the top cover with themesh bottom, the brewer chamber 70A may only need to pierce the topcover.

The system 10A may include a controller 80A having a plurality of nodes82A through 92A, where the node 82A may be communicably coupled to thefirst pump 22A, the node 84A may be communicably coupled to thetemperature sensor 56A, the node 86A may be communicably coupled to thesecond end 48A, the node 88A may be communicably coupled to the secondend 52A, the node 90A may be communicably coupled to the switch 64A, andthe node 92A may be communicably coupled to the second motor 66A.

When the system is initially turned on, the controller 80A may firstdetermine if the first end 46A of the probe 44A detects water in theheating member 26A. If not, the controller 80A may turn on the firstpump 22A to provide water into the heating member 26A through the firstand second tubes 20A and 24A as indicated by the direction arrows 27A.Once the first end 46A of the probe 44A detects water, the controllermay turn on the heater element 34A until the water temperaturemeasurement from the sensor 56A reaches a predetermined watertemperature. This may be done to prevent the heating element 34A fromburning out due to little or no water in the heating member 26A. Oncethe first end 50A of the second probe 49A detects water, the controller80A may stop the first pump 22A since the heating member 26A may besubstantially full of water, and to prevent over flow of water out ofthe heating member 26A. The controller 80A may keep the heater element34A on until the heating member 26A substantially full of water isheated to the predetermined temperature.

As the first pump 22A pumps water from the reservoir 12A into the firstsection 30A, the wall 28A forces the water to flow through a path asindicated by the direction arrow 94A such that the cooler water from thereservoir 12A in the first section flows pass the heater element 34A.This may allow the water in the second section 32A to be kept hotterrelative to the water in the first section 30A to minimize the time toheat the water in the second section 32A to a desired temperature. Notethat the volume of space in the second section 32A may be greater thanthe first section 30A so that the second section 32A may hold more waterthan the first section 30A.

When the system 10A is on, the heating member 26A may be in a readymode, where the water level within the heating member 26A may be at thefirst end 50A of the second probe 49A and the water temperature may bekept substantially near the predetermined temperature. For instance, ifthe water temperature within the heating member 26A drops below thepredetermined temperature, the controller 80A may turn on the heatingelement 34A to raise the temperature again until the predeterminedtemperature is reached.

The controller 80A may receive input signals 94A, 96A, and 98A from auser interface, as discussed in more detail below. The input signal 94Amay represent the desired temperature of the water, the input signal 96Amay represent the desired flow rate of the water through the cartridge72A, and the input signal 98A may represent the desired volume of wateror cup size. The controller may adjust the temperature of the water inthe heating member 26A within the optimal temperature range, such asfrom about 185° F. to about 205° F. with 5° F. increments or 185° F.,190° F., 195° F., 200° F., and 205° F. In general, lower brewingtemperature may result in more sour coffee taste, while higher brewingtemperature may result in more bitter coffee taste.

The controller 80A may also adjust the flow rate of the water passingthrough coffee grind in the cartridge 72A from slow to fast, such asfrom about 60 seconds for an 8 oz cup of coffee to about 20 seconds forthe same 8 oz cup of coffee in about 10 seconds of increments or 60, 50,40, 30, and 20 seconds per 8 oz cup. In general, the range of flow ratementioned above may be applicable to a cartridge containing about 10 to12 grams of coffee grind, which may be appropriate to brew an 8 oz cupof coffee. Put differently, hot water passing through the coffee grindmay be thought of as washing the coffee grind such that more time thehot water is in contact with the coffee grind, more thoroughly thecoffee grind will get washed. However, if the coffee grind is overwashed, the hot water is in contact with the coffee grind for too long,and over-extraction may occur, which may result in bitter coffee taste.Conversely, if the coffee grind is not washed enough, the hot water isin contact with the coffee grind for a short period of time, andunder-extraction may occur, which may result in flat and sour coffeetaste.

The amount of hot water relative to the amount of the coffee grind mayalso have an impact on the coffee taste. If too much water is used, thecoffee may taste weak or water-downed, but if not enough water is used,then the coffee may taste too strong. As such, temperature, flow rate,and amount water used need to be balanced as they can all impact thetaste of coffee, and with individual coffee drinkers having their ownpreference for coffee tastes, the temperature, flow rate, and cup sizemay be independently controlled to customize the coffee taste.

Referring back to FIG. 30, the following describes the process thecontroller 80A may go through to brew a cup of coffee with the heatingmember 26A in a ready mode, where the water level is at or near thefirst end 50A of the second probe 46A, and the water temperaturesubstantially at or near the predetermined temperature. In this example,the predetermined temperature may be set at 185° F. In general, acartridge holds about 10 to 12 grams of coffee grind, which issufficient to brew an 8 oz cup of coffee. For instance, if a userprefers a strong cup of coffee, the user may select the following: theinput signal 94A with the temperature of 200 A° F.; the input signal 96Awith the flow rate of 50 seconds per 8 oz; and the input signal 98A withthe cup size of 7 oz. With these input signals, the controller 80A mayturn on the heating element 34A until the temperature sensor 56Aindicates that the water temperature is heated from the predeterminedtemperature of 185° F. to 200° F.

Once the desired temperature is reach, the controller 80A may turn offthe heating element 34A, and turn on the second pump 66A, and close theswitch 64A so that the second end 62A of the tube 58A is closed to theatmosphere. The second pump 66A may be a vacuum pump to draw the heatedwater within the heating member 26A out through the first end 40A of thethird tube 38A as indicated by the direction arrow 29A; and as theheated water is drawn out through the third tube 38A, atmospheric airmay enter the heating member 26A through the opening 27A to minimize thepower needed from the second pump 66A to draw the heated water out ofthe heating member 26A. With the switch 64A closed, the heated waterflows through the first end 60A of the fourth tube 58A as indicated bythe direction arrow 31A and out through the fifth tube 68A as indicatedby the direction arrow 31A, and injected into the cartridge 72A and exitfrom the brewing chamber 70A as indicated by the direction arrows 33A.

Depending on the flow rate selected, the controller 80A may control thevoltage supplied to the second pump 66A to control the speed of themotor; thus, the flow rate of the water. The controller 80A may keeptrack of the time the second pump 66A has been running and bymultiplying the flow rate and the time, the controller 80A may determinethe amount of heated water that has been pumped by the second pump 66A.In this example, with the user selecting flow rate of 50 seconds/8 oz,and having selected 9 oz cup of coffee, the controller 80A may keep thesecond pump running for less than 50 seconds to fill the 7 oz cup ofcoffee.

FIG. 31 shows that once the controller 80A determines that the desiredamount of heated water has been injected through the cartridge 72A, thecontroller 80A may open the switch 64A to cause the air to enter throughthe second end 62A of the fourth tube 58A as indicated by the directionarrow 100A. The second end 42A of the third tube 38A may be locatedabove the cover 54A of the heating member 26A along the vertical axiswhen the system 10A is being used so that when the switch 64A is opened,the water in the third tube 38A substantially stops flowing. With theswitch 64A opened, the second pump 66A may substantially pump airthrough the fourth and fifth tubes 58A and 68A as indicated by thedirection arrows 100A; and inject air through the cartridge 72A asindicted by the direction arrow 102A to substantially purge a top needle104A, and the remaining beverage within the cartridge 72A out through abottom needle 106A.

Once the purging is done, the controller 80A may close the switch 64Aand prepare the heating member 26A to a ready mode again by turning onthe first pump 22A until the probe 49A detects water at its first end50A. The controller 80A may simultaneously or sequentially turn on theheating element 34A to heat the water temperature to the predeterminetemperature. Having the heating member 26A in a ready mode minimizes thetime it takes to heat the water to a desired temperature to minimize thetime it take to brew a cup of coffee.

FIG. 32 shows a user interface 120A adapted to provide input signals tothe controller 80A. The user interface 120A may have a temperaturebutton 122A, a flow rate button 124A, a size button 126A, an up button128A, a down button 130A, and a display 132A. A user may adjust thetemperature, flow rate, and size of the beverage by first pressing onthe appropriate button, and then using the up or down buttons 128A and130A to adjust the settings. For instance, to adjust the temperature,the user may select the temperature button 122A, and then use the up ordown buttons to adjust the temperature from 185° F. to 205° F. Thedisplay 132A may indicate the selected temperature. The flow rate andthe size of the coffee may be adjusted by selecting the buttons 124A and126A, respectively, and using the up and down buttons 128A and 130A toadjust accordingly.

The user interface 120A may include preset buttons 128A, 130A, and 132A.Once the user has found a preferred combination of temperature, flowrate, and size of the beverage, the user may store the customizedcombination into one of the preset buttons. Once the desired combinationhas been set, the user may press a brew button 134A to start the brewingprocess.

FIG. 33 shows alternative user interface 140A where a user may choosefrom a plurality of taste or cup settings. The settings may include alight button 142A, mild button 144A, a medium button 146A, a strongbutton 148A, and a rich button 150A. These buttons may be preprogrammedto brew the desired tastes based on a cartridge containing between 10and 12 grams of coffee grind. For instance, the light button 146A may bepreprogrammed with the following settings: water temperature of 185° F.,flow rate of 20 seconds per 8 oz of coffee, and a serving size of 9 oz.Conversely, the rich button 150A may be preprogrammed with the followingsettings: water temperature of 205° F., flow rate of 60 seconds per 8 ozof coffee, and a serving size of 7 oz, which would result in a richertasting coffee compared to the light button 146A.

FIG. 34 shows that the user interface 140A may include a wirelessreceiver 152A adapted to receive a single from a smart device such as asmart phone 154A. The smart phone 154A may have an application 156Aadapted to set the temperature, flow rate, and the cup size of thebeverage; and transmit the settings through a wireless signal 158A,which may be received by the wireless receiver 152A. The controller 80Amay then brew a beverage utilizing the settings from the smart phone154A.

FIG. 35 shows another beverage brewer system 200A similar to the system10A with the following differences. With the brewer system 200A, thecontroller 80A may monitor the flow rate of the water being pump by thefirst pump 22A to monitor amount of water from the reservoir 12A beingpumped into the heating member 202A. The heating member 202A may have afirst probe 204A having a first end 206A and a second end 208A. Thefirst end 206A may be located distance Y from a basin 210A of theheating member 202A, and the first end 40A of the second tube 38A may belocated distance X from the basin 210A. With the brewer system 200A, thedistance Y may be greater than the distance X. Put differently, thefirst end 206A of the first probe 204A may be higher than the first end40A of the second tube 38A along the vertical axis when the system 200Ais in use. The second end 42A of the tube 38A may be coupled to thesecond pump 66A, which in turn pumps heated water through the fifth tube68A to inject heated water to a brewing chamber 212A. The brewingchamber 212A may have a top needle 214A, a first bottom needle 216A, anda second bottom needle 218A. When the brewing chamber is closed, thefirst bottom needle 216A may be located between the top needle 214A andthe second bottom needle 218A. The first bottom needle 216A may bepositioned within the brewing chamber 212A to pierce a first cartridge72A sized and shaped similar to a K-cup®. The second bottom needle 218Amay be position to pierce the bottom of a second cartridge 219A that islonger along its longitudinal axis relative to the first cartridge 72A.The second cartridge 219A may be configured to avoid the first bottomneedle 216A but configured to allow the second bottom needle 218A topierce the bottom 221A when the second cartridge is inserted fully intothe brewing chamber 212A.

The system 200A may include a fourth tube 220A having a first end 222Aand a second end 224A. During the heating period, steam or excess waterwithin the heating member 202A may exit through the first end 222A andexit through the second end 224A. The steam entering the fourth tube220A may condense and drop into the reservoir 12A. Likewise, excesswater entering the first end 222A may drop into the reservoir 12A.

When the system 200A is initially turned on, the water level within theheating member 202A may be either below or in contact with the first end206A of the probe 204A. If the water makes contact with the first end206A, then the water level may be at or above the first end 206A. If thewater level is below the first end 206A, then the controller 80A mayturn on the first pump 22A to fill the heating member 202A until thefirst end 206A detects water. The system 200A may then wait for a userto brew a cup of beverage. During this waiting period, the controller80A may maintain the water temperature within the heating member 202A ator near the predetermined temperature. Once the user activates thesystem 200A to brew a desired amount of beverage, the controller maycontrol the voltage of the first pump 22A to control the flow rate overa period time to fill the heating member 202A with an appropriate amountof water to brew the desired amount of beverage. The controller 80A maysimultaneously or sequentially turn on the heating element 34A, to heatthe water in the heating member to a desired temperature. Once thedesired temperature has been reached, the controller 66A may turn on thesecond pump 66A; and as the water level within the heating member 202Adrops below the first end 206A of the first probe 204A, the controllermay increase the voltage fed to the first pump 66A to purge the topneedle 214A by speeding up the flow rate. And as the water level dropsbelow the first end 40A of the third tube 38A, the pump 66A may pump airthrough the third tube 38A, thus in essence blowing air through the topneedle 214A and the coffee grind in the cartridge to purge the topneedle from clogging and to substantially drain the cartridge of theremaining beverage.

When the system 200A is initially turned on, the water may be in contactwith the first end 206A such that the water level may be at or above thefirst end 206A. Under this situation, the controller 80A may maintainthe water temperature within the heating member 202A at or near thepredetermined temperature. Once the user activates the system 200A tobrew a desired amount of beverage, the controller 80A may heat the waterwithin the heating member 202A to a desired temperature, and once thedesired temperature is reached, the controller 80A may control thevoltage of the second pump 66A to control the flow rate to inject heatedwater through the brewing chamber 212A while keeping track of the timethe second motor 66A is on until the water level is below the first end40A of the third tube 38A. This allows the controller to calculate theamount of water injected through the brewing chamber 212A. If the amountof water is less than the desired amount of water selected by the user,the controller 80A may then turn on the first pump 22A to pump thedifference between the desired amount of the water and the actual amountwater pumped by the second pump into the heating member 202A. Thecontroller 80A may then turn on the heating element 34A to heat thewater to the desired temperature, and the controller 80A may then turnon the second pump 66A to pump the heated water in the heating member202A again until the water level is below the first end 40A. Thecontroller may then purge the top needle 214A and the coffee grind inthe cartridge in a manner described above.

FIG. 36 shows a perspective view of a beverage brewer system 300A havinga user interface 302A, a cover 304A with a release latch 306A, areservoir 308A, and an on/off button 310A. The system 300A may also havea drip tray 312A releaseably attached to a main body 314A. FIG. 36 showsthe drip tray in the first position, however, main body 314A may havepeg holes 316A adapted to receive the drip tray 312A such that the driptray 312A may be removed and re-engaged with the peg holes 316A torelocate the drip tray 312A into a second position.

FIG. 37 shows the system 300A with the cover 304A in an open position,which exposes a cup holder 318A adapted to receive a cartridge 320Acontaining premeasured beverage material such as coffee grind. To make acup of beverage, the cartridge 320A may be inserted into the cup holder318A and the cover 304A may be closed.

FIG. 38 shows a side view of the system 300A with certain elementsremoved to show certain internal components such as the reservoir 308Afluidly coupled to a heating member 322A with the third tube 38A fluidlycoupling the heating member 322A to a switch 324A and a second pump326A. The fourth tube 58A may fluidly couple the switch 324A to thethird tube 38A, and the fifth tube 68A may fluidly couple the secondpump 326A to the first needle 74A. The cover 304A may be pivotallycoupled to the main body 314A about a pivot axis 328A to allow the coverto open and close. The cup holder 318A may be removably couple to themain body 314A to hold the cartridge 320A such that the first needle 74Amay pierce the top side of the cartridge 320 when the cover is closed.

FIG. 39 shows the system 300A with the cover 304A in the closed positionsuch that the first needle 74A pierces the top side of the cartridge320A within the cup holder 318A. The second pump 326A may be locatedwithin the cover 304A such that the second pump 326A may be locatedabove the heating member 322A. This allows the second end 42A of thethird tube 38A to be located above the heating member 322A along thevertical axis when the system 300A is being used so that when the switch64A is opened, the water in the third tube 38A substantially stopsflowing. With the switch 324A open, the second pump 326A maysubstantially pump air through the fourth and fifth tubes 38A and; andinject air through the cartridge 320A to substantially purge the firstneedle 74A, and water within the cartridge 320A out through a secondneedle 319A.

FIG. 40 shows another beverage brewer system 400A having a reservoir402A fluidly coupled to a pump 404A adapted to convey fluid through afirst tube 406A and through a second tube 408A. The second tube 408A maybe fluidly coupled to a tube heater 412A to heat the water passingtherethrough. The tube heater 412A may be coiled to minimize the spaceit occupies within the brewer. In particular, the tube heater may beabout 1200 Watt to about 1800 Watt power heater design to heat about 8oz of water with an inlet room temperature of about 14° C. to about 25°C. (about 59° F. to about 77° F.) to an outlet temperature of about 88°C. to about 93° C. (190° F. to about 199° F.) passing through the tubeheater in about 30 seconds to about 55 seconds. It is within the scopeof the invention to utilize a variety of tube heaters known to oneskilled in the art to heat the water passing through the tube. Theheated water may be passed through a third tube 410A to provide heatedwater to the brewing chamber 70A. The tube heater 412A may have an inlet413A and an outlet 415A adapted to coupled to the second tube 408A andthe third tube 410A, respectively.

The first tube 406A may be routed such that a portion 407A of the firsttube 406A may be elevated vertically above the top line 418A of thewater inside the reservoir 402A when the brewer system 400A is in use,as defined by distance Y1. The top line 418A may be the maximum amountof water that can be held by the reservoir 402A. A switch 414A may becoupled to the portion 407A of the first tube 406A adapted to open andclose to the atmosphere. The switch 414A may be located in an elevatedlevel above the top line 418A within the reservoir 402A. This ensuresthat when the switch 414A is in an open position, as shown in FIG. 40,the portion 407A of the first tube 406A is open to the atmosphere, andthe water level 419A within the first tube 406A is below the portion407A of the first tube 406A and the switch 414A.

The brewer system 400A may include a first temperature sensor 409A and asecond temperature sensor 411A coupled to the second tube 408A and thethird tube 410A, respectively. The first temperature sensor 409A sensesthe temperature of the water before entering the inlet 413A, and thesecond temperature sensor 411A senses the temperature of the water afterthe water exists through the outlet 415A of the tube heater 412A. Thesecond temperature sensor 411A may be located distance Y2 above theoutlet 415A, and a distance Y3 from the maximum height of the third tube410A along the vertical axis when the brewer system 400A is in use.

The pump 404A may be a variable pump, such as a vacuum DC pump, toadjust the flow rate of the water through the tube heater 412A. A flowmeter 420A may be coupled to one of the tubes, such as the first tube406A, to monitor the amount of water passing through the tubes.Alternatively, the volume of water pumped through the brewing chamber70A may be calculated by the flow rate of the water pumped by the pump404A multiplied by the time the pump 404A has been on. Once the desiredamount of water has passed through the brewing chamber 70A, thecontroller 416A may open the switch 414A to allow atmospheric air to bepumped through the portion 407A instead of water from the reservoir402A. With the switch 414A in the open position, atmospheric air entersthe portion 407A of the tube 406A such that air is pumped through thesecond tube 408A, heater 412A, and the third tube 410A to purge thecartridge 72A with air so that the beverage within the cartridge 72A maybe substantially drained. Note that it is within the scope of theinvention to have the pump 404A and the switch 414A positioned betweenthe tube heater 412A and the brewing chamber 70A similar to the secondpump 66A and switch 64A shown in FIG. 30.

The brewing system 400A includes a controller 416A communicably coupledto the pump 404A, switch 414A, flow meter 420A, heater 412A, and thefirst and second temperature sensors 409A and 411A. When a coffeedrinker initiates the brewer system 400A to make a cup of beverage suchas coffee, the controller 416A may monitor the temperatures at the inlet413A and the outlet 415A through the first and second temperaturesensors 409A and 411A, respectively. The controller 416A may monitor theinlet water temperature to determine if the water temperature is withinthe room temperature range of about 14° C. to about 25° C. (about 59° F.to about 77° F.). The inlet water temperature may be below the roomtemperature range for a variety of reasons, such as due to coldatmospheric temperature or from refrigerated water being poured into thereservoir 402A. Under such circumstances, it may take additional time toheat the water through the tube heater 412A to a desired temperature atthe outlet 415A. To do so, the controller 416A may reduce the voltageprovide to the pump 416A to reduce the flow rate of the water throughthe tube heater 412A to allow the tube heater 412A additional time toheat the water. In addition, reducing the flow rate may allow additionalcontact time between the hot water and the beverage grind for fullextraction of the flavors from the coffee grind. Conversely, if thewater temperature at the inlet 413A is above the room temperature, thecontroller may increase the speed of the pump 404A to increase the flowrate so that the water through the tube heater 412A has less time toheat the water to compensate for the higher inlet water temperature sothat the outlet water temperature is at the desired temperature.Alternatively, the controller may turn the heater 412A on-off-on-off andso on if the inlet water temperature is high to prevent overheating theinlet temperature. As such, the controller may adjust the speed of thepump 404A to control the flow rate as a function of the inlet watertemperature so that the outlet water temperature may be within thedesired water temperature.

The controller may also monitor the water temperature at the outlet 415Athrough the second temperature sensor 411A to determine if the outletwater temperature is within a desired temperature range, such as about88° C. to about 93° C. (190° F. to about 199° F.) for brewing coffee.The outlet water temperature may be below the desired temperature rangefor a variety of reasons, such as cold start of the heater 412A due tothe heater 412A not being used for an extended period of time. In otherwords, the heater 412A may not be warmed up so that even if the waterentering the inlet 413A is within the desired room temperature, thewater temperature of the initial heated water exiting through the outlet415A may be below the desired temperature range. Under suchcircumstances, it may take additional time to heat the water within theheater 412A to a desired temperature at the outlet 415A. If the secondtemperature sensor 411A detects that the water temperature is below thedesired temperature range, the controller 416A may turn off the pump416A such that the water level within the third tube 410A may be atlevel 422A. The controller 416A may keep the power on to the heater 412Ato allow the heater 412A to heat the water therein. As the water withinthe heater 412A is heated, the hotter water may rise up through thethird tube 410A and displace the cooler water within the third tube410A. The rise in temperature within the third tube 410A may increasethe pressure therein and force the cooler water within the third tube410A to the brewing chamber 70A and into the cartridge 72A; thus soakingthe beverage medium such as coffee grind. This may also be commonlyreferred to in the coffee industry as “pre-infusion” or “pre-wetting”the coffee grind to get the coffee grind to receive water. It has beensuggested that pre-wetting the coffee grind allows the coffee grind toabsorb water and swell in size and release carbon dioxide to open pathsfor the hot water later poured into the coffee grind to more easilypenetrate and extract the coffee flavors from the coffee grind. Once thesecond temperature sensor 411A detects that the water temperaturereaches the desired temperature, the controller 416A may turn on thepump 404A again to substantially maintain the water temperature at theoutlet 415A within the desired water temperature.

FIG. 41 shows a brewer system 500A that is similar to the brewer system400A shown in FIG. 40 except that the pump 504A and the switch 514A maybe positioned between the tube heater 512A and the brewing chamber 70A.The first temperature sensor 509A may be coupled to the reservoir 502Ato monitor the temperature of the water entering the tube heater 512Athrough a first tube 506A. A second temperature sensor 509A may becoupled to the second tube 508A to monitor the outlet water temperaturefrom the heater 512A. The flow meter 520 may be coupled to the secondtube 508A to monitor the amount of water passing through the tube. Athird tube 510A may be used to couple the pump 504A to the brewingchamber 70A to provide the heated water through the brewing chamber.

FIG. 42 shows a beverage brewer system 600A adapted to receive singlecup of water and brew a beverage utilizing substantially the entiresingle cup of water. The brewer system 600A includes a reservoir 602Afluidly coupled to a pump 604A adapted to convey fluid through a firsttube 606A and through a second tube 608A. The second tube 608A may befluidly coupled to a tube heater 612A to heat the water passingtherethrough. The heated water from the heater 612A may exit through athird tube 610A to provide heated water to a brewing chamber 70A.

The reservoir 602A may be sized and adapted to receive a single cup ofwater from about 6 oz to about 16 oz. The reservoir 602A may have anopening 614A adapted to receive water, and the opening may be at leastpartially opened to the atmosphere. A beverage drinker may pour in adesired amount of water though the opening 614A and into the reservoir602A. The desired amount of water may be enough to make one cup ofbeverage or coffee. Once the brewer system 600A is activated, thecontroller 616A may turn on the pump 604A to convey the water in thereservoir 602A through the heater 612A, and the heated water may beinjected through the brewing chamber 70A. Once the water in thereservoir 602A is substantially drained, the pump 602A may pump airthrough the tubes and the tube heater to purge the brewing chamber 70Ato prepare the brewing system 600A for the next brewing cycle.

FIG. 43 shows a brewer system 700A substantially similar to the brewersystem 10A described above in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 except that asecond chamber system 702A is included. The second chamber system 702Amay include a pump 704A and a switch 706A positioned between a heater708A and a brewing chamber 710A. The pump 704A may draw heated waterfrom the heater 708A through a sixth tube 712A and inject the heatedwater to the brewing chamber 710A through a seventh tube 714A. The sixthtube 712A may have a portion 716A that is elevated above the top line718A of the water in the reservoir 12A. The switch 706A may be coupledto the portion 716A of the sixth tube 712A. A flow meter 720A may becoupled to the seventh tube 714A, which is on the outlet side of thepump 704A. However, it is within the scope of the invention to have theflow meter on the inlet side of the pump, as illustrated by a flow meter722A coupled to the third tube 38A.

The heater 708A may be larger than the heater 26A shown in FIG. 30 toprovide additional heated water for the two brewing chambers 70A and710A. As such, with the heater 708A being open to the atmosphere, aplurality of brewing chambers may draw heated water from the heater 708Afor high frequency brewing operations such as in restaurants and inoffices with a large number of employees needing frequent beverageservice.

FIG. 44 shows a management system 800A adapted to monitor inventory of aplurality of cartridges 802A. To appeal to different taste in beverages,a variety of cartridges may be offered with some coffee cartridges beingmild, medium, and strong. In addition, different size of cartridges maybe offered. The management system 800A may provide a bar code for eachtype of cartridge. For instance, a large cartridge with medium flavorcoffee may have a bar code 804A, while a regular cartridge with strongflavor coffee may have a bar code 806A, and etc. The brewer system, suchas the system 10A, may have a bar code reader 808A within the brewingchamber 70A positioned to read the bar codes 804A, 806A, and others onthe lid of the cartridges. The reader 808A may be coupled to a processor810A, which in turn may be coupled to a memory 812A and a communicationdevice 814A. As the processor brews a beverage with a cartridge, theprocessor 810A may keep track of the inventory of the variety ofcartridges used for each cartridge brewed and store the information inthe memory 812A. The communication device 814A may be connected to theoffice network such as the Internet so that the processor 810A may becommunicated remotely.

The professional catering service may remotely communicate with theprocessor 810A to gather the inventory information in the memory 812Aprior to visiting the office, and stock the truck and driver withappropriate cartridges to restock the office, thus saving time.Moreover, the data collected may be analyzed to determine whichbeverages are popular and not popular. The processor may also collectinformation about the temperature, flow rate, and size so that thesedata may be analyzed to determine consumers' desired settings. Inaddition, the processor 810A may not brew unauthorized cartridgeswithout the proper bar code on the lid. It is within the scope of theinvention to utilize a variety of indication marks on the cartridgesknown to one skilled in the art to monitor the inventory of thecartridges and to prevent the unauthorized cartridges without theindication marks to be used with the brewer system.

FIG. 45 shows a schematic diagram of a beverage brewing system 1900having a tank 1912 adapted to hold liquid such as water to serve aplurality of cups of beverage such as coffee. The tank 1912 may have anopening 1914 to allow a user to pour liquid into the tank 1912. The tank1912 may have a base 1916 with a drain hole 1918 to allow the liquid toflow therethrough. A tube 1920 may be coupled to the drain hole 1918,and a portion of the tube 1920 may be coupled to a resistive member 1922such that when electrical current passes through the resistive member1922, the resistive member 1922 may heat up to heat the liquid along theportion of the tube 1920 where the resistive member 1922 is coupledthereto. A processor 1921 maybe communicably coupled to the resistivemember 1922. When the brewing system 1900 is activated or turned ON by auser, the processor 1921 may provide current to the resistive member1922 to heat the liquid in the tube 1920.

Downstream from the resistive member 1922, the tube 1920 may be coupledto a one way valve 1924, which substantially allows the liquid to flowin the direction indicated by a direction arrow 1926, which may be inthe opposite direction of the gravitational force 1928. The one wayvalve 1924 may be a ball 1930 housed within the tube 1920 where the ballis supported by tabs 1932 to prevent the ball from dropping in thedirection of the gravitational force 1928. As the resistive member 1922heats the liquid within the portion of the tube 1920, the liquid such aswater may bubble up. The bubbles formed within the heated liquid causesthe ball to float or lift up (opposite of the gravitational force) suchthat the heated water is able to pass around the ball 1930 to flow inthe direction indicated by the direction arrow 1926. As bubblescontinues to form, the heated liquid rises within the tube 1920, therebypumping the heated liquid up the tube 1920. As such, the combination ofthe resistive member 1922 and the one-way valve 1924 may pump heatedliquid up the tube 1920 without utilizing an electrical pump.

The brewing system 1900 may include a selector valve 1934 and a flowmeter 1936, where both are adapted to allow the heated liquid from thetube 1920 to pass therethrough and flow into a serving container 1938.The serving container 1928 may be adapted to hold between one and twocups of liquid such as about 20 oz of liquid. The processor 1921 may becommunicably coupled to the selector valve 1934 and the flow meter 1936.The flow meter 1936 may be adapted measure the amount of heated liquidthat has passed through the flow meter 1936 or amount of liquid that haspoured into the serving container 1938. The selector valve 1934 maycoupled to the flow meter 1936 and a return tube 1942. The return tube1942 may be coupled to the tank 1912 to return the heated liquid to thetank 1912. The selector valve 1934 may direct the flow of the heatedliquid to either the flow meter 1936 or the return tube 1942.

As an example, the strength of the brew such as the strength of thecoffee taste depends, in part, from the amount of heated water that passthrough the coffee beans. As more water is used to brew with the grindcoffee beans, the weaker the coffee tastes. Depending on the strength ofthe beverage selected by the drinker, the processor 1921 maypredetermined the amount of water that is to be brewed with a coffee pod1940, as discussed in more detail below. The flow meter 1936 feedback tothe processor, the amount of heated water that has poured into theserving container 1938, and as long as the amount of the heated waterpoured into the serving container is less than the predetermined amountof water that is to be brewed with the coffee pod 1940, the processorinstructs the selector valve to flow the heated water to the flow meter1936. However, when the flow meter 1936 detects that the amount ofheated water poured into the serving container 1938 is equal to orgreater than the predetermined amount of water that is to be brewed withthe coffee pod 1940, the processor instructs the selector valve to flowthe heated water to the return tube 1942 to drain the extra heated waterback to the tank. In addition, the processor 1921 turns off theresistive element 1922 to stop the heating of the water within the tube1920.

The serving container 1938 may include a temperature sensor 1944 tomeasure the temperature of the heated liquid within the servingcontainer. The processor may be communicably coupled to the temperaturesensor 1944. Another factor that determines the strength of the coffeetaste is the temperature of the water. In general, water temperature ofbetween 190° F. and 205° may be preferred to brew coffee. If theprocessor detects that the heated water from the tube 1920 is less thanthe preferred temperature, then the processor 1921 may turn ON a heater1946 to further heat the water in the serving container. The heater 1946may be located underneath the base 1956 of the serving container 1938 toheat the water. Note that a more powerful resistive member 1922 may beused to heat the water to a desired temperature such that the heater1946 may not be needed.

The brewing system 1900 may include a vacuum pump 1948 having an inlet1950 and an outlet 1952. The serving container 1938 may have a base 1956with a drain hole 1958. A second tube 1954 may couple the drain hole1958 to the inlet 1950. One of the advantages of using a vacuum pump isthat the tank and the serving container do not have to be designed to beair tight. The brewing system 1900 includes a brewing chamber 1960adapted to receive the coffee pod 1940, also known as K-cup™manufactured and disturbed by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.,details of which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,765, which ishereby incorporated by reference. In summary, the brewing chamber 1960includes a top portion 1962 and a bottom portion 1964. The top portion1962 is designed to open, and the bottom portion 1962 is adapted toreceive the coffee pod 1940 when the top portion 1962 is opened. The topportion 1962 has a first needle 1966 designed to penetrate the top seal1968 of the coffee pod, and the bottom portion 1962 has a second needle1970 designed to penetrate the plastic base 1972 of the coffee pod 1940.When the top portion 1962 is closed, the force of the top portion 1962pressing down on the bottom portion 1964 causes the first needle 1966 topenetrate the top seal 1968, and then the second needle penetrates thebase 1972 of the coffee pod.

A third tube 1974 may couple the outlet 1952 to the first needle 1966 topass the heated water to the first needle. Once the heated water in theserving container 1938 reaches the desired temperature, the processor1921 may activate the vacuum pump 1948 to suck the heated water from theserving container 1938 to the first needle 1966, which sprays the heatedwater to the coffee grind 1976 in the pod 1940. The heated water passesthrough the coffee grind and the filter 1978 holding the coffee grind,and coffee extracted from the coffee grind drops the base 1972 of thepod 1940, and coffee passes through the second needle 1970, and into acup 1980.

In general, K-cups hold about 7 to 11 grams of grind coffee depending onthe flavor and brew strength of the K-cup; and they are designed to brewabout 8 to 12 oz of coffee. However, some coffee drinkers have indicatedthat when K-cups are used to brew more than 8 oz of coffee, the taste ofthe coffee seemed weak. And there is a preference for coffee drinkers tobrew a larger cup of coffee. To do so with K-cup, it needs to hold morecoffee grind, but adding more coffee grind within the filter 1978 cancause back pressure when heated water is injected into the K-cup suchthat coffee grind can escape through the punctured opening caused by thefirst needle 1966.

Another aspect of the invention is to brew a bigger cup of coffee thatis stronger tasting. In this regard, FIG. 46 shows the bottom portion1964 having a third needle 1982 adapted to puncture the base 1984 of alarger coffee pod 1986, as described in more detail below. The coffeepod 1986 may have a container 1988 adapted to not engage with the secondneedle 1970 such that only the third needle penetrates the container1988 at the base 1984. However, it is within the scope of this inventionto configure the container 1988 so that both the second and thirdneedles penetrate the container 1988 at different locations. Thecontainer 1988 may house a filter 1990 that is more elongated than thefilter 1978 thereby holding more of the coffee grind. In this example,the coffee pod 1986 may hold about twice as much coffee grind than theK-cup, or about 22 grams of coffee grind. As such, with the coffee pod1986, a bigger and strong cup of coffee may be brewed.

The bottom portion 1964 may have a switch 1992 adapted to be triggeredwhen the coffee pod 1986 is inserted into the bottom portion 1964. Theswitch 1992 may be located below the second needle 1970 so that thecoffee pod 1940 may not active the switch 1992, and only the base 1984of the coffee pod 1986 may activate the switch 1992. The processor maybe communicably coupled to the switch 1992 such that when the switch1992 is activated, the processor 1921 recognizes that the larger coffeepod 1986 is being used to adjust the amount of heated water that passesthrough the coffee pod 1986. The filter 1990 of the coffee pod 1986 maybe longer along its longitudinal axis than the filter 1978 of the coffeepod 1940. With the longer filter 1990, this increases the extractiontime of the heated water with the coffee grind 1994 in the filter 1990,which allows more flavor from the coffee grind to be extracted comparedwith the coffee grind 1976 in the shorter filter 1978 in the coffee pod1940.

FIG. 47 shows a perspective view of the coffee pod 1986 having a topseal 1996 and the base 1984. The container 1988 may be made of a plasticmaterial to vacuum seal the coffee grind inside the filter. The top seal1996 may be sealed along the outer edge 1998 of the container 1988. Thecontainer 1988 may have a tapered portion 2000 adapted to stay clear ornot engage with the second needle 1970. The base 1984 of the container1988 may also have an irregular configuration, as shown in FIG. 48. Thecontainer 1988 may have a transition section 2002 between the taperedportion 2000 and the base 1984 so that the transition section 2002 andthe base 1984 may be inserted into the second portion 1964 in apredetermined way so that the tapered portion 2000 faces the secondneedle 1970 such that the tapered portion does not engage with thesecond needle 1970. However, it is within the scope of the invention tohave both the second and third needles penetrates the container 1988 attheir respective locations so that the coffee can be drained throughboth needles.

The length L between the top seal 1996 and the base 1984 may be longerthan the K-cup to hold more coffee grind. As such, the brewer system1900 may brew a beverage using a regular size pod 1940 or a larger sizepod 1986 depending on the preference of the drinker. Moreover, a drinkermay use the pod 1986 to brew a large cup of coffee for two servingsinstead of making one cup of coffee at a time using a regular pod orK-cup 1940.

While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it willbe apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many moreembodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of thisinvention. For instance, the powder creamer may be provided in a tabletform or in a pouch to easily insert into the cup. The cartridge systemmay not include a filter such that the cup holds a beverage grind thatmay be formulated to dissolve in such a way that the beverage does notclog the bottom needle. With the tall cup being able to hold greateramount of the beverage grind, a bigger cup of beverage may be brewedsuch as milk and soup. Accordingly, the invention is not to berestricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A beverage brewer and cartridge combination,comprising: a beverage cartridge having a beverage ingredient therein;and a brewer including a cartridge holder, a movable cover having anopen position, a partially open position and a closed position, a pump,an inlet needle operably connected to the pump, a first outlet needle,and a second outlet needle; wherein the beverage cartridge and thebrewer are respectively configured such that, when the beveragecartridge is positioned within the cartridge holder, the inlet needlewill pierce the beverage cartridge, the first outlet needle will piercethe beverage cartridge at a first predetermined piercing location withinthe brewer, and the second outlet needle will not pierce the beveragecartridge at a second predetermined piercing location within the brewerthat is vertically offset from the first predetermined piercinglocation, as the cover moves from the partially open position to theclosed position.
 2. The brewer and cartridge combination as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the inlet needle is mounted to the cover; and the firstoutlet needle is located within the cartridge holder.
 3. The brewer andcartridge combination as claimed in claim 2, wherein the cartridgeholder defines a bottom end and a top end through which the beveragecartridge is insertable; and the first outlet needle is located betweenthe top and bottom ends of the cartridge holder.
 4. The brewer andcartridge combination as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first outletneedle is fixedly positioned within the cartridge holder.
 5. The brewerand cartridge combination as claimed in claim 3, wherein the secondoutlet needle is located at the bottom end of the cartridge holder. 6.The brewer and cartridge combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein thebeverage cartridge defines a first beverage cartridge, the combinationfurther comprising: a second beverage cartridge having a beverageingredient therein.
 7. The brewer and cartridge combination as claimedin claim 6, wherein the first beverage cartridge includes a bottom endand a lid and defines a length from the bottom end to the lid; thesecond beverage cartridge includes a bottom end, a lid, a length fromthe bottom end to the lid, and a longitudinally extending slot thatextends over a portion of the length, and the first beverage cartridgehas a bottom end and a lid and defines a length from the bottom end tothe lid; the cartridge holder includes a bottom end from which thesecond outlet needle protrudes, a top end through which either one ofthe first and second beverage cartridges are insertable, and a stopperledge from which the first outlet needle protrudes at a location betweenthe top and bottom ends; the location of the stopper ledge and thelength of the first beverage cartridge are such that the first outletneedle will pierce the bottom end of the first beverage cartridge as thefirst beverage cartridge reaches a fully inserted position within thecartridge holder; and the slot of the second beverage cartridge isconfigured to avoid the stopper ledge and the first outlet needle as thesecond beverage cartridge reaches a fully inserted position within thecartridge holder where the second outlet needle pierces the bottom endof the second beverage cartridge.
 8. The brewer and cartridgecombination as claimed in claim 7, wherein the brewer includes adetector that detects when the second beverage cartridge is positionedwithin the cartridge holder; and the brewer includes a controller,operably connected to the pump, that controls the pump to pump an amountof heated water through the inlet needle in response to the absence of adetection of a second beverage cartridge and that adjusts the amount ofheated water pumped through the inlet needle in response to a detectionof a second beverage cartridge.
 9. The brewer and cartridge combinationas claimed in claim 8, wherein the detector comprises a switch.
 10. Thebrewer and cartridge combination as claimed in claim 8, wherein theamount pumped in response to the absence of a detection of a secondbeverage cartridge is 8 to 12 ounces.
 11. The brewer and cartridgecombination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the beverage cartridge is afrusto-conical single-serving beverage cartridge.
 12. The brewer andcartridge combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the beveragecartridge includes a cup having a circular base with a side wallextending upwardly therefrom to a radially outwardly protruding rimsurrounding a circular access opening, an outer diameter of the sidewall adjacent and below the rim of 40 mm to 47 mm, an outer diameter ofthe side wall along the circular base of 34 mm to 38 mm, and a heightbetween the rim and the circular base of 43 mm to 46 mm.
 13. The brewerand cartridge combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the beveragecartridge includes authentication indicia; and the brewer is configuredto prevent brewing in response to a placement of the beverage cartridgewithout the authentication indicia into the cartridge holder.
 14. Abeverage brewer and cartridge combination, comprising: a beveragecartridge having a beverage ingredient therein, defining a longitudinalaxis and including a cup with a rim, a base and a sidewall between therim and the base, and a cartridge cover over the rim, the sidewall beingcircular in cross-sections perpendicular to the longitudinal axis fromthe rim to the base and defining a length from the rim to the base; anda brewer including a cartridge holder, having an internal volume and afirst outlet needle positioned within the internal volume, that isconfigured to individually receive the beverage cartridge, a covermovable between an open position and a closed position, a pump, an inletneedle operably coupled to the pump and mounted to the cover formovement with the cover, and a second outlet needle located in spacedrelation to the first outlet needle; wherein the beverage cartridge andthe brewer are respectively configured such the beverage cartridge canbe fully inserted into the cartridge holder regardless of itsorientation about the longitudinal axis relative to the cartridge holderand, when the beverage cartridge is positioned within the cartridgeholder and the cover is in the closed position, the inlet needle willhave pierced the beverage cartridge, the first outlet needle will havepierced the beverage cartridge at a first predetermined piercinglocation within the brewer, and the second outlet needle will not havepierced the first beverage cartridge at a second predetermined piercinglocation within the brewer that is vertically offset from the firstpredetermined piercing location.
 15. The brewer and cartridgecombination as claimed in claim 14, wherein the beverage cartridgedefines a first beverage cartridge, the combination further comprising:a second beverage cartridge having a beverage ingredient therein,defining a longitudinal axis and including a cup with a rim, a base anda sidewall between the rim and the base, and a cartridge cover over therim, the side wall defining an outer surface and a length from the rimto the base, which is greater than the length of the sidewall of thefirst beverage cartridge, and including a longitudinal extendingdiscontinuity on the outer surface, wherein the respectiveconfigurations of the second beverage cartridge and the cartridge holderare such that the longitudinally extending discontinuity and the firstoutlet needle will be longitudinally aligned with one another when thesecond beverage cartridge is being inserted into cartridge holder andthe longitudinally extending discontinuity is oriented about thelongitudinal axis in the predetermined manner relative to the cartridgeholder.
 16. The brewer and cartridge combination as claimed in claim 15,wherein the longitudinally extending discontinuity comprises anindentation.
 17. The brewer and cartridge combination as claimed inclaim 15, wherein the cartridge holder includes a top end through whichthe first and second beverage cartridges are insertable and a bottomend; the second outlet needle is located at the bottom end of thecartridge holder.
 18. The brewer and cartridge combination as claimed inclaim 15, wherein the rim of the first beverage cartridge defines anouter diameter; and the rim of the second beverage cartridge defines anouter diameter that is equal to the outer diameter of the rim of thefirst beverage cartridge.
 19. The brewer and cartridge combination asclaimed in claim 15, wherein at least one of the first beveragecartridge and the second beverage cartridge includes authenticationindicia; and the brewer is configured to prevent brewing in response toa placement of a cartridge without the authentication indicia into thecartridge holder.
 20. The brewer and cartridge combination as claimed inclaim 14, wherein the beverage cartridge includes a cup having acircular base with a side wall extending upwardly therefrom to aradially outwardly protruding rim surrounding a circular access opening,an outer diameter of the side wall adjacent and below the rim of 40 mmto 47 mm, an outer diameter of the side wall along the circular base of34 mm to 38 mm, and a height between the rim and the circular base of 43mm to 46 mm.